Itachi, my brother
by Yoshi forever 52
Summary: It's amazing how much a story can change from a different perspective. The new view of the world is told by someone else this time, that someone; Itachi Uchiha. What will happen when Sasuke is put in the position to kill his clan while Itachi has to put up with Team 7?
1. Chapter 1: My promise to you

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, it belongs to its respectful owner: Masashi Kishimoto. This is a non-profit work, thank-you!

* * *

Chapter 1: My promise to you

"Sasuke..." Danzo spoke slowly, even he had pity for this clan. "I want you to slaughter every single one of the Uchiha clan, children and all." He explained without the subtlest of any feeling.

"..." Sasuke didn't even give a second thought. The air shifted and it was colder than ever before, such a beautiful night would be wasted.

He clenched his fist in frustration. "Why in hell would you think I would slaughter my clan because of Konoha's mindless assumptions?!" Sasuke yelled. "DO YOU THINK WE'RE JUST TRASH TO YOU?!"

"Let me say this again, thousands and thousands more lives will be lost if you don't do this, the Uchiha clan plans to do horrible things. By killing them all you can stop a war!" Danzo argued, slamming his cane on the ground.

"Do you think...I give a damn about any war of Konoha's?!"

"You are an ANBU Black Op and you will listen to me!"

"I'm done taking orders from you-"

Sasuke felt a tug on his cape. He looked down to see Itachi, his little brother. "Big brother?"

"Wh-what're you doing?" Itachi asked, out of curiosity, he followed his big bro to see where he was going.

_'Amazing, how could I not of detected his presence?' _"Itachi go back to bed." Sasuke ordered, not wanting to look back at him.

Itachi's eyes narrowed, something was up. "Why?"

"This is adult conversation and _not_ of your concern."

"Leave Itachi." Sasuke demanded.

_'He's distraught about something, I can tell from the tone of his voice.'_ "I will if you promise me to not ever let there be another war brother, please I don't want people to die!" Itachi exclaimed tears rolled down his cheeks and fell onto the cold stone floor.

"For you little brother?" Sasuke turned around and bent to Itachi's level, he smiled as he ruffled Itachi's hair. "Heh, I'll promise you anything!" Tears fell down and landed on his little brother's head.

Itachi went home and the decision in the end was clear, Sasuke Uchiha was going to slaughter everyone in the Uchiha clan. In return, of course, Lord Third would keep Itachi safe in the village, Itachi his sweet little brother.

_The next day..._

As the sun rose from the horizon, the first few rays pierced through his window and glowed directly over Itachi's eyes. Slowly he began waking up and got out of bed. First things first, he did his regular routine: bath, study of the economic class of the ninja village, breakfast, and the most important, _try_ to play a game with Sasuke.

After getting prepared, Itachi tiptoed down the stairs looked his head in the kitchen, Sasuke wasn't there in the kitchen trying but always failing breakfast as usual. Although their mom was gone as well, so perhaps she was out shopping.

"...I guess I have to skip breakfast." Itachi sighed after he rummaged through the cupboards seeing nothing but cobwebs.

Itachi left the house and walked to school, which wasn't too far away from Uchiha town. After about eight minutes, Itachi stepped inside the classroom and sat in his usual seat.

*Ring*

After the bell rang, Iruka Umino stepped in the classroom, cheery as always. "Ok class! Today we're having a lesson outside!" Iruka was another average chūnin ninja, although he was next to the only one nice to Naruto.

As usual, Naruto stumbled I the classroom, late as always. His hair was spiked in every direction possible, in fact, he still had drool seeping out of his mouth. Naruto wasn't only the worst student, but worst dressed on most occasions. Wearing bright colors just to get noticed.

The class followed Iruka outside and he began his lesson.

"Alright, we're going to practice shuriken throwing and aiming." Iruka explained.

"Itachi go first for us to set an example for your classmates."

"ITACHI! ITACHI! ITACHI!" A group of fan girls cheered, much to Naruto's annoyance he was the most popular and talented person in the class. Not to mention he was a notorious ladies' boy.

Itachi threw the shurikens and they perfectly stacked upon each other the post. Nothing short of a great example.

"That was a great Itachi, everyone try to follow, next we have-"

"Me! I'm going! I'm gotta beat that little weasel!" Naruto cut off while he ran towards the front of the line.

"Are you kidding me?! Naruto is a loser!" A random kid yelled.

"Yeah!" Another kid joined in.

"Fine, Naruto. You're up." Iruka finally agreed, handing the hyper spiky blonde a couple of shurikens.

As soon as the shuriken escaped Naruto's grasp they went all over the place. One landed above Iruka's head and the other stuck in the ground right beside the post. This set the class howling with laughter, except for Itachi.

"Just...SHUT UP!" Naruto clenched his fist in frustration. _'Why are they always-' _He noticed one student wasn't laughing, instead he kept a straight face. _'How come...he isn't laughing at me?' _

XxxxxXxxx

At the end of class, while everyone was leaving Itachi being his perfectionist self tried to advance his already perfect shuriken move by adding a string to it. He caught sight of Naruto walking alone.

"Why are you walking alone?" Itachi asked.

"Why do you even care, huh?! You're too perfect to even notice me!"

"Hm. That's strange because I always thought we were equals."

"Wha-? E-Equals?" Naruto was taken back by this, not one had anyone ever called him an _equal_.

Itachi continued. "But I guess it's because you lack-"

"I lack what?"

"Everything."

*vein pops* "EVERYTHING?!"

"Like I said."

"What do you have that I don't, huh?!"

"Common sense."

After school, Itachi hurried back home, he was almost at Uchiha town when he saw a shadow flicker in the moonlight. He shrugged it off and kept walking until he entered Uchiha town.

Itachi looked around and saw blood splatters all over town. Right beside his foot, he saw his aunt lying in a pool of her own blood. At that instant, something inside him shattered.

"Is this what you were talking about Sasuke?!" Itachi ran towards his house, everywhere he looked, he saw only death. The once joyous walls filled with laughter were now etched with screams of terror.

Itachi slowly approached his house and slid open the shōji. He cringed seeing the floors and walls painted with bloodstains.

In a panic, he stumbled upstairs and opened the door to his parent's room.

"I was too late, I'm sorry." His knees grew weak and wobbly as they moved to the corpses of his parents. "Mother, father, I-"

He stopped, Sasuke appeared on top of their blood covered bodies, his blood red eyes were luminous.

"Why?! You did this..." Warm tears streamed down his face. "Didn't you?!"

A devilish smirk her on Sasuke's face. "I killed them all, Itachi. And I loved every bit of it."

"...but why I-"

Sasuke snatched Itachi's shirt collar. "You want me to kill you too?! Do you still want to live?! DO YOU HAVE THE WILL TO FIGHT?!"

"..."

"Tell me Itachi, tell me right now how much you hate me!"

"I don't hate you, Sasuke."

Sasuke slammed Itachi's face in their parent's pool of blood. "TELL ME YOU HATE ME!"

"I don't...I still don't hate you."

"That's it," Sasuke crouched down and turned Itachi over, his face held no emotion, that happy smile from long ago was destroyed.

A hard punch landed on Itachi's face, blood spilled out of his mouth and sprawled across the floor. "TELL ME...TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU HATE ME!"

"I...I don't...hate you."

Sasuke punched Itachi in the face a second time. "TELL ME! JUST TELL ME..." Tears quickly swelled up in his eyes the more he stared at Itachi's utterly defeated face. "...tell me you hate me."

"I'm just a fool, that is why...I cannot...hate you."

"Then, I no longer want you to be my brother."

Sasuke picked Itachi up and threw him across the floor like a worthless piece of trash. "Listen to me well, one day, when you have enough hate, then and only then can you become my brother, but for now, you will always be...trash to me!" Sasuke got up and left in a flash, leaving Itachi...alone.

* * *

Our story begins four years after the Uchiha incident, Itachi Uchiha would finally become a full fledge ninja tomorrow just like his older brother, Sasuke.

*Bleep-Bleep*

Itachi turn his alarm clock off and got ready for his daily morning routine: bath, study of the evolution and the foundation of kunai knives, and breakfast.

After the water was fully heated up, Itachi stepped inside the bathtub. "...It's settled. Today will be the day I surpass you, Sasuke."

Itachi got out of the bathtub, studied, then picked up some leftover insta-ramen from last night and finally left his apartment. Ever since that day, long ago, he's always been pitied and it sickened him to no ends.

"Itachi! How have you been? It's been so long since I've seen you! Are you ok?!" Some old lady gushed as she squeezed Itachi like a doll.

"Thanks and all, but if you don't stop squeezing me, I'll be late for-"

"Hush child you look famished! You have lines by your nose, oh poor boy!"

"These lines were always here and-"

"Here have this dumpling and run off to school you'll be late!"

Itachi took the dumpling and ran off to school, he finally entered the classroom and sat where he always sat; front row, left seat but this time there was a crowd of girls swooning over him. Naruto walked in starting even more silent chatter.

Itachi took a breath of air. "Look at Itachi! He's sooo hot!" Ino Yamanaka, who was equally as infatuated with Itachi as Sakura exclaimed.

"Ao who do you think will get the first kiss?" Sakura Haruno, Ino's rival asked.

"Me! Itachi would never kiss a girl with a giant forehead!" Ino boasted.

"Well Itachi would never kiss a pig!" Sakura shot back.

"No way! Me" A girl argued

"Me!" Another girl chimed in.

Hinata sat back in her seat hopelessly staring at Naruto, she was the only girl not in 'love' with Itachi but rather had a huge crush on Naruto Uzumaki.

Itachi looked back only to see Natuto himself right in his face. "Argh! Why are you so smug Itachi?!" Naruto yelled, tired of him getting all the attention.

"I wasn't smug to begin with." Itachi answered.

He continued. "Listen Naruto could you possibly get out of my-"

Unexpectedly, someone accidentally bumped into Naruto causing him to tip forward and smooch Itachi on the lips.

Right then and there, all the fangirls died.

"Bleck!" Naruto quickly spat out in disgust.

Itachi wiped off his mouth. And sighed Ben longer this time.

*ring*

Right in time, Iruka walked in and began class. "Alright class, this is your last day of school, tomorrow you will all be ninja so your final test will be to create a clone oh and on top of that, everyone the Third Hokage is paying a visit to see you all perform so act exceptional, Naruto." Iruka explained.

The class started laughing.

"What come on! I'm always exceptional!"

The students all got up and went to the testing room.

Itachi was the first to get called. "First will be, Itachi Uchiha."

Itachi walked in and effortlessly weaved the hand signs: ram, snake, and tiger. "Clone technique!" A carbon copy of Itachi appeared beside him, the clone crossed his arms. "This okay for you?"

"Amazing Itachi as usual!" Iruka exclaimed. "Itachi, you're gonna be a great ninja!"

After a couple more students Naruto finally got called. Before walking inside the room, he glared at Kiba Inuzuka. "Alright guys! Watch me own this test!"

"Clone technique!"

A rather crappy copy of Naruto proofed up beside Naruto, all it looked like was a blob of orange and nothingness

"So Itachi do you think Naruto's gonna fail?" Kiba asked with a obnoxious grin.

"Naruto has as much as a chance as any of us, Kiba."

"Yeah right! Naruto is the worst ninja in the academy, he'll never become a ninja. I don't know why you pity him so much! You're like God to a piece of shit when compared to him."

"I never knew...how much of a fool you were, Kiba, because the second you underestimate him, the second you lose."

*ring*

The bell rang again signifying the end of school. Itachi along with his classmates got their stuff and ran out.

Suddenky, Naruto jumped onto Itachi and tied him up with some rope. "Yo! How do you like them apples you prissy bastardized!"

"What're you doing, Naruto?" Itachi flatly asked, obviously annoyed that he thought a rope could tie him down.

"You took everything else away from me, but you can't take away, Sakura!"

"Hm?"

"Sakura loves you right? Let's change that!"

"..."

Naruto transformed into a decent copy of Itachi and found Sakura sitting on a bench under a pink cherry blossom tree, looking out into the distance.

Naruto flipped his long black, silky hair. "Oi, Sakura." Naruto said in his best smug voice.

"Hey Itachi!" Sakura squealed, super surprised Itachi came to see her, he choose her out of everyone else.

"Sakura your forehead is so-" Naruto's stomach started to grumble and roar...possibly from that expired milk that he drank this morning.

_'Wow! Itachi is gonna be the first person to compliment my forehead!'_ Sakura thought to herself practically bursting with joy.

"Your forehead is so...ugh...I have to-" Naruto started to say as he let out a giant, smelly fart.

*sweat drops down* "Itachi...are you ok?" Sakura asked, his face was a little green and he looked sick.

"Oh man!" Naruto yelled as he put his hands behind his butt and ran as fast as he could to the nearest toilet.

"Naruto? Why are you...me?" Itachi asked as Naruto bolted past him.

"I gotta pooooooop!" Naruto yelled. "No time to answer questionsssss!"

Itachi went in the opposite direction of Naruto and saw Sakura was sitting on the bench waiting for Itachi to come back. He walked up to Sakura.

"Oh, hello, Sakura." Itachi greeted.

"Ah! there you are Itachi! I'm guessing you're back from your _emergency_?" Sakura asked, pretending not to notice his clueless face. _'Jeez, that was quick, even for you, Itachi.'_

"Emergency? Are you talking about Naruto?"

"Oh never mind! Itachi you're just so dark and stoic unlike Naruto, ugh Naruto is way too hyper and annoying, especially when he drools over me!"

"..."

"I bet he only acts like that since he doesn't have parents to keep him in check, right Itachi?"

"You're...just as annoying as Naruto." Itachi started to walk off. "You have no idea what he's been through."

"...I'm sorry..." Sakura looked up at the falling petals. "I guess I have been a little harsh on him, huh? Then...I'll be nice to him from now on!"

_Itachi's apartment...sunset..._

"Wow, this kid is a genius, I must say." Kakashi Hotake complemented, looking through his neatly piled stuff.

"He's like you isn't he?" Iruka asked.

"Except he isn't becoming an ANBU, although it would be interesting to have him on my team."

"Wouldn't it?"

XxxxxXxxx

Itachi came in late to his apartment, he opened the door and dropped down his bag. "Hey guys, I'm sorry late, agai-" He stopped himself and stared at the empty house.

_The day after..._

Itachi ran to school, it was the day they finally got assigned to his Jounin and teammates. As usual, the bell rang and Iruka walked in, he was clearly sad today.

"Ahem!" Iruka coughed, trying to clear up his voice as the Jounin walked in. "Today you will be assigned to a team."

"Let's begin. Konoha's Team seven: Itachi Uchiha..." The room was tense, everyone hoped to get paired with Itachi especially Ino and Sakura.

"Sakura Haruno-"

"YES!" Sakura exclaimed.

"And Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto raised his fist in the air. "Wooo! Wait..." He got up from his desk. "Excuse me! but why am I, the greatest ninja ever, paired up with that baka, Itachi?" Naruto asked.

"Because Naruto we pair our worst students with our best, Naruto you are our worst while Itachi is the best." Iruka explained, making the class crack up of laughter.

"You guys will be with Kakashi Hotake." He finished.

"Next Team eight: Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame, you are all assigned to Kurenai Yūhi." Iruka continued reading aloud.

_'Oh well I didn't get in Naruto's team, but...'_ Hinata looked to her new teammates. _'This will still be okay.'_

"Finally Team ten: Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka are all assigned to Asuma Sarutobi." Iruka folded up his papers. "Well this it, guys. I wish you all best of luck on your upcoming missions!"

_'Kakashi Hotake...huh?' _Itachi thought to himself looking at the masked silver-haired ninja.

After pictures Kakashi told them to go inside a room and wait for him to file in the photo. All Naruto was how how boring and lame it all was. As punishment he stuck an eraser in the door frame.

"He-he! That's what Kakashi-sensei gets!" Naruto laughed as he tiptoed back to his seat.

"Naruto you shouldn't have done that!" Sakura scolded...on the outside _'CHA! What am I saying this is gonna be so funny!'_ the crazy inside of herself thought.

_'Sensei wouldn't be so stupid enough to fall for that, right?'_ Itachi questioningly thought to himself.

Kakashi unknowingly opened the door and poked his head out, just his luck an eraser plopped onto his spiky silver hair. Naruto couldn't help but laugh out loud, Sakura as well was trying to hold it in and Itachi as always kept a straight face.

"Hm, first impression, I don't like you guys." He walked in. "Tomorrow for your first assignment, I don't want you to eat." Kakashi instructed.

"What why?" Naruto asked, slumping in his seat.

"No reason in particular." With that Kakashi disappeared without another word.

XxxxxXxxx

Itachi walked home in the bitter cold night, he walked inside his apartment and lay awake in his bed. He stared at the ceiling. "I still don't...hate you, Sasuke."

* * *

A/N: I apologize for not putting the events in order oh and not OOC.

**Edit: Chapter one of my do-overs, ha-ha! I tried my best to put as much emotion as possible.**

**!What's Next! **Yes! Everyone it's the famed survival test that's really only for Kakashi, but...but...no one cares. Naruto gets owned many times as well as the other members, they all lack teamwork and reliability and Itachi finds this the hardest to learn. Will they become ninjas?

And yes, I take suggestions, answer questions, etc...


	2. Chapter 2: We are a team! Believe it!

**Recap: **After having his clan slaughtered, Itachi Uchiha is determined to fulfill his promise to Sasuke while also learning a thing or two about friendship. More troubles and trials will have to be faced on the way!

**Warflower**: And yeah, thanks! It'll be Hatake from now on;)

* * *

Chapter 2: We are a team! Believe it!

After doing what Itachi would've normally did, he went downstairs and went to the kitchen. _'Kakashi told me not to eat didn't he?' With breakfast_ out of the way, he was already out of his apartment and walking down the streets of Konoha to the red bridge where the newly establish Team seven would meet up.

Konohamaru Sarutobi, or honorary grandson as everyone called him, tripped on his long scarf, dropping all of his magazines to study his new jutsu from.

Itachi picked up the magazines. _'What is a kid doing with porn magazines?' _He handed it to the kid. "Here you go, Konohamaru." Itachi said, he started to walk again before once again stopped by Konohamaru.

"Hey, Mister! You're the guy that Naruto-bro always complains about!" Konohamaru pointed out.

"Oh is that so?"

"Although, I've always imagined you as an actual weasel."

"...that's just my name."

"Your name is weasel? That must be tough to live with."

"No it's Itachi, which means...my name does translate to weasel."

"You know what? That's it! Itachi, from now on, you're the boss' handy-man!"

"Handy-man?"

"Every boss needs one ya know."

Itachi continued walking, finally ending up at the bridge. He saw Sakura and Naruto already there, however, Kakashi proved to be late.

"Itachi! You're here!" Sakura squealed, running down to hug him.

"Humph! I don't know what you see in him, Sakura. I think he's really annoying." Naruto stated, crossing his arms and turning his head.

"So what? Itachi doesn't wake up everyday to impress you." Sakura shot back, defending her crush.

"But uh...I wake up everyday to impress you, Sakura!" Naruto yelled in a more ditzy tone. "You'll give me a kiss, right?"

"Yeah in your dreams." Sakura shot back.

"Hello everyone!" Kakashi greeted randomly appearing on the rails of the red bridge.

"Why are you late sensei?" Naruto demanded.

"I ran into a parade." Kakashi replied.

"Yeah right, Kakashi-sensei!"

_Later at a different location..._

"So, I would love to get to know everyone a little bit better." Kakashi started off, as he flipped to a certain page in his book.

"Let's say what we like, dislike, what our hobbies are, and our dream for the future will be. Naruto, you can go first for us."

"Alright! So what I like is ramen, especially the ramen at the Ichiraku Ramen shop! Oh it's so tasty! What I dislike is the three minutes you have to wait after you pour in the boiling water. My hobbies are um...eating ramen. And to be the next Hokage, that is my dream!"

"Sakura, it's your turn."

"I like ummm," Sakura looked at Itachi, she giggled and blushed. "I dislike Naruto my hobbies are uhh to..."

"Alright, that's enough, Sakura." Kakashi cut off Sakura seeing as she would never finish. "And now, finally you, Itachi.

"I like very little things and I dislike just about everything, my only hobby is to think of the future. I especially hate my idea of a dream. If you want to call it a dream that is, it's more of a reality because I _will_ fulfill my promise and that is no dream."

Naruto and Sakura stared at Itachi. This guy was definitely something else.

"Hey! What about you sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Hm? Things I like and things I hate…I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future…I have nothing in mind. My hobbies? Well I have many hobbies.

_'Hey! No way! He just half-assed us!'_

"...Now I wanted to do something...yeah there's enough time. Follow me, please." Kakashi instructed.

Team seven followed Kakashi to an open field, perfect for training. Although, it was a quite beautiful green field with a surrounding forest to complete. Just on the edge was a dazzling lake and in the middle were three posts.

"Ok everyone! We're going to do a survival test!" Kakashi explained, he held out two bells joined together by a string. "Only two of you can receive your lunch and that's by taking these bells away from me. Since there's only two bells one of you will be kicked out and sent back to the academy."

"You can use shurikens and other ninja weapons if you like, but to win you must come at me as if you want to kill me." Kakashi furthered explained as he dangled the bells in front of their faces.

Naruto laughed. "Ha! Yeah, this'll be a piece of cake!"

"Laugh as you wish, Naruto, but class clowns are usually the weakest and first die." Kakashi rebutted.

That got him upset. "Take that back!" Naruto yelled, he lunged towards Kakashi, who easily dodged the attack.

"Good job Naruto, trying to kill me like that. But...I never even said begin."

"Just shut-up!"

"Now...you may begin!"

Itachi and Sakura vanished while Naruto stayed behind to go head on with his sensei.

XxxxxXxxx

_'Only two can pass, a three man team doesn't make sense, no not in the ninja world.' _AsItachi thought, he decided on what to do already, and waited for the perfect moment to strike.

_'What're you doing, Kakashi?'_

Finally Itachi stood up, from behind the bushes, he walked out into the open and saw Kakashi just sitting there reading a book, seemingly he already took care of Naruto. Quickly, Itachi ran up to strike him, before he could land a hit, Kakashi quickly swiped his hand up and blocked his attack.

Itachi smirked. "Is that all you got, Kakashi?"

"Huh? That's some odd behavior, it's almost like..." Kakashi raised his kunai and slashed it through Itachi's body making him disappear. "...It's not even you. Itachi, you need to work on your shadow clones. They act nothing like you."

"You are correct, sensei. It's like my clones have a mind of their own." Itachi said, reappearing.

Kakashi paused, he looked behind him and saw Itachi sticking a kunai through his back. Then looked down, as a pool of blood formed around his feet,

"Itachi?" Kakashi asked. _'He can do genjutsu? Very powerful ones at that.'_

Itachi vanished and before he knew it, Itachi was there again this time sticking another kunai through his stomach. _'Hm, I guess he got me there.'_

"Release!"

Itachi thought for a bit, he had the perfect opportunity. _'I finally see what you're doing, Kakashi.'_

With the jutsu released, he reached for his side. _'Ah, I thought you were smarter than-' _Surprisingly, the bells remained, untouched. "Huh? Why didn't you take them, Itachi?"

An ear-piercing scream erupted from Sakura. And spiraled through the forest.

_'Looks like the genjutsu of my own is working.'_

_Noon..._

Kakashi rounded up the team, and began scolding them for their efforts. "What you guys are lacking is teamwork, if none of you can get the bells in time, all of you will just have to go back to the academy." Kakashi sighed, he got out only two lunches and handed them to Sakura and Itachi.

"On another note, If I see you feeding Naruto any food, then you'll be kicked out of the shinobi program for good and you will never, ever be able to become a shinobi." Kakashi warned and in a flash he left.

Naruto heard about shinobi who were kicked out of the program, it was something he couldn't bare to live through.

Naruto's stomach began rumbling. "Ughhh-my stomach is so emp-"

Before he could finish, Itachi's boxed's lunch was right below Naruto's chin.

"...wha..."

Sakura got the message and held up her lunch box as well.

"But Itachi, Sakura, you're gonna get kicked out of the shinobi program!"

Itachi looked up to Naruto. "We all need to have our energy if we want to fight together as a...team."

"...You guys, but uh, I can't eat like this ya' know!"

Itachi sighed. "Then Sakura and I will feed you if we have to."

Sakura groaned. _'The last thing I wanna do is feed the idiot.'_

"YOU!" Kakashi yelled with a furious look on his face, scaring the crap out of everyone.

"Kakashi-sensei, wait! You can't fail just them. We're a team, if they go I go too!" Naruto yelled, kicking his feet up in the air.

"...pass."

Naruto and Sakura looked at Kakashi in confusion.

"What-why? We broke the rules."

"It's true in the ninja world, those who don't follow the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are far worse than scum..."

XxxxxXxxx

_Sasuke..._

Sasuke was at a dock, waiting for his new partner to come, after just joining the Akatsuki, Orochimaru, his original partner, tried to take his body. Now that he's left, Sasuke was appointed a new partner.

Finally, footsteps approached the Uchiha. He spoke rather, odd. "My name is Kisame Hoshigaki, I'm your new partner." Kisame greeted.

Sasuke turned around and studied him. Kisame to him could only be described as a human shark with a giant bandaged up sword. "Hey." Sasuke simply said, returning to gazing at the water.

"Sasuke, is it? Do you have some interesting skills I should know about?"

"I'm sure you'll find out, pretty soon. As I hear, our first mission will be to recruit another member."

"Is that so? I've heard of what you did the your clan, Sasuke. To kill so many, I actually already have an idea of your power."

"And I've heard about you as well, Kisame."

XxxxxXxxx

"Itachi, are you by the target?" Naruto asked, talking as quietly as he could into the headset.

"Affirmative, approaching target." Itachi answered, crouching behind a bush, moving slowly towards the weasel.

"Good. Over and out."

"Copy that."

_Third Hokage's office..._

After the easily passable D-rank mission Team seven was back in the Third's office celebrating their first successful mission. The door slowly opened, Itachi looked miserable with the scratches and bite marks that covered his face. He plopped down the weasel into the old lady's hands. "There you, go." Immediately it started cuddling in her arms much to their surprise.

"Thank you for rescuing him!"

"Itachi! Your face, what happened?" Sakura asked, getting out a pack of bandages from her pouch.

"It's nothing to be worried about." Itachi reassured.

"Third Hokage! I want a higher rank mission!" Naruto yelled, slamming his fists on the desk. "That mission was too easy for a great ninja like me!"

Hizuren sighed. "If you must. You're next mission will be C-ranked, although these missions are usually assigned to chūnin and sometime high level genin, I have the utmost confidence you'll all be able to fulfill the request. For your mission, I want you to escort the famous bridge builder, Tazuna, to the Land of Waves."

Tazuna walked in the office. "Let's get this over with already." He grumbled, he took a look at his escorters. "Wha-? A bunch of kids?!"

"Yeah!" Naruto pointed to his forehead protector. "These group of kids are gonna protect you, grumpy old man!"

"Great. And they're brats." He scoffed.

Itachi and Sakura held onto Naruto before he could rampage on Tazuna. "Take that back! Take it back right now!"

Kakashi rubbed behind his head. "Sorry about that...Naruto's a bit hyper."

"Damn right." Tazuna grumbled.

With that Team seven took off, as usual, it was another a nice day. However, it was unusually quiet so much that Kakashi sensed an unsettling feeling. "Everyone!" Kakashi suddenly said. "Be on guard!"

Four chūnin level appeared from the abyss, quickly, Sakura got in front of the bridge builder in order to protect him from the enemy.

Naruto stood there, frozen. It seemed that all his confidence just flushed out._ '...c-chūnin level ninja! No way, I can't...' _Before he could move, the attacker struck him with a poisonous gauntlet.

"With all this talk, Naruto, I thought you would've taken them on already." Itachi jumped in between the two ninja, he placed his hand on the ground and swung his legs around, jacking them both hard in the stomach. Easily Kakashi defeated the other two ninja and tied them up.

Itachi looked back to Naruto. "If you can't fight, then you'll just have to get out of the way."

Sakura knew the attacker used poison in their weapons, there was definitely poison running through Naruto's veins. "Sensei! We have to go back, Naruto got struck with a poisoned weapon!" She called out.

"We're not gonna go back!" Without thinking, Naruto pierced through his own flesh with a kunai knife and drew out the poison. "I swear on this pain, I will never freeze up and I will never back down from a fight!" Naruto pledged.

"Yeah Naruto, that's great being gutless and all, but if you don't wrap up that wound, you'll die for real." Kakashi flatly said.

"Gahhhh! Sakura-chan, help me!"

Sakura reached inside her lack and threw him a roll of bandages. "Naruto, don't be so reckless next time."

As they were walking towards the boat Kakashi grew more and more suspicious of the chūnin ninjas they earlier faced. _'Something's not adding up, why would two high level ninja come, especially, after Tazuna, on such a low rank mission?'_

The team boarded the boat and began their departure to the Land of Waves. "Tazuna," Kakashi suddenly said. " I believe there's something you're not telling us. Why were there the two ninja who attacked us going after, _you_?"

_'So he noticed?!' _Tazuna merely sighed, he stared at the still pool of water beneath them. "There is something...I have to tell you."

XxxxxXxxx

Finally, they arrived at the Misty village and mounted the molded boardwalk. Naruto was focused on only one goal: to out do Itachi, after he ever so smugly told him to _get out of everyone's way._

*rustle-rustle*

Naruto threw a kunai at the sound, to his annoyance, it wasn't a big bad ninja, but rather nothing at all, it must of been merely the wind.

Sakura whacked Naruto on the head. "Quit scaring everyone like that!" Sakura yelled.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan...I just thought-"

Suddenly, a snow rabbit hopped out of the bush Naruto marked. _'Wait, it's spring time, there shouldn't be rabbits with white fur. It's a trap!' _"...Everyone duck now!" Kakashi ordered.

Everyone ducked, and seconds after, a large sword, flew past them, just barely over their heads and lodged itself in the nearby tree. The team looked up and saw a shinobi crouched on the giant sword.

"Did you like my pet?"

Kakashi immediately recognized who this guy was; Zabuza Momochi once of Kiri. He lifted his forehead protector revealing a hidden sharigan.

"Heh, I'm honored for the famous Copy ninja to be going all out for me." Zabuza commented. "Once I kill you, it'll make my reputation even more _in_famous."

The battlefield was covered in a thick mist making the chance of death even higher.

"Whatever you do, your mission is to protect the bridge builder as shinobi of the Hidden leaf!" Kakashi ordered. "I'll fight Zabuza off."

Team seven created a circle around Tazuna. "We got your back, old man! Don't worry!" Naruto yelled.

"Heh. What a pitiful attempt, you really think you can protect this guy?" Zabuza humored, appearing in the middle of the genin's circle.

Sakura, Naruto, and Itachi all stood there, frozen. He was fast. Itachi clenched fist and got out a kunai knife. "Oh a kunai knife? Got a death wish, kid?" Zabuza asked.

"I'm already prepared to die."

"Really now?" Zabuza raised his sword. "Then let's test tha-"

Kakashi slashed straight through Zabuza's water clone. "You won't have to die. Don't worry. I'll protect you all with my life!"

"What a touching speech." The real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and grabbed him. "Although, I thought you were better than this, Kakashi." Zabuza lunged him into the lake and prepared a jutsu.

"Water prison technique!" Zabuza yelled, Kakashi reemerged from the lake with a sphere of water surrounding him.

"K-Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto screamed.

"Everyone run! Get out of here!"

"But you'll...die, sensei! I don't want you to-"

"If I can't protect myself...then you'll just have to go on without me. That is the way of the shinobi!"

"I won't let you die, sensei! Itachi, I have an idea." Naruto created several shadow clones, before attacking one of them looked towards Itachi. "Do your thing, weasel!"

"Go already, just run away!" Kakashi yelled.

"I swore on it, Kakashi-sensei, to never back down from a fight because that's my ninja way!" Naruto yelled, the clones ran up and began to attack.

A circle of clones surrounded Zabuza, effortlessly, he swung his sword and destroyed the clones. The real Naruto, nodded to Itachi. _'That should've been long enough for Itachi.'_ He handed him a fūma shuriken.

He threw the shuriken only for him to easily dodge it. "You think that can kill me?!" Zabuza yelled.

Itachi dispersed into a flock of ravens, and reappeared behind Zabuza, he used that same fūma shuriken and lodged it through his body.

_'I must of been placed under a genjutsu, but how?'_ As soon as Zabuza released the genjutsu, Naruto already had a perfect opening and landed a punch on his face. Zabuza no longer has the ability to hold the water prison technique and the jutsu released.

Naruto dragged himself out of the water. "Naruto," Itachi said, he smiled. "That was brilliant!"

Naruto smiled. "Oh yeah whatever, heh, you're not bad yourself!"

Kakashi, now free of the prison, used Zabuza's own special water technique he picked up from the sharigan. Zabuza was freaked out, somehow, Kakashi copied his every move. Just as he was right about to finish him, a masked hunter-nin appeared along with the mist. The hunter-nin threw several perfectly pinpointed senbon at certain areas of his neck.

"What in the...Who are you?!" Naruto demanded.

"I am a hunter-nin sent to kill Zabuza." The hunter-nin explained, he picked up Zabuza's body and disappeared along with the mist.

"A...hunter-nin?"

"A hunter-nin is a ninja sent to track down and kill missing-nin, let's say another village was to kill him, then they would have access to precious knowledge of enemy nations." Kakashi explained.

"So what? I'm just pissed that the _hunter-nin_ killed him in like five seconds where we had to do all that work just to get him weakened." Naruto complained.

"There are those who are stronger than you, Naruto and even stronger than...me." Kakashi.

"Stronger than you, sensei?"

"That's just how it wo-oooorks." Kakashi collapsed on the ground.

Sakura and Naruto both began screaming. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Don't worry." Itachi reassured as he approached his sensei. "He's merely collapsed due to chakra exhaustion." Itachi picked Kakashi up and heaved him onto his back.

"Oh wait. You guys can stay with us." Tazuna offered. "It's the least I can do."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Damn right!"

_Tazuna's house...next day... _

Kakashi suddenly woke up, he looked around and saw a woman staring at him. "Oh Kakashi-san, you're awake!" Tsunami greeted, she placed a plate of soup on the nightstand next to him. "The kids took you into our house after you collapsed, I hope you get better soon."

"Thank you."

Tsunami left the room leaving Kakashi to collect his thoughts.

_'I have a feeling you're not really dead, Zabuza. That hunter-nin gave me all the clues I need to figure that.' _"I guess it might be time to finally begin a little technique training."

XxxxxXxxx

Kakashi lead Team seven to a nearby forest. "Ok everyone here's your first training session!" He walked up the tree, regardless of crutches, and demonstrated their objective. "All I want you to do is walk up this tree, without using your hands, just your feet."

"Your only hint I'll give you is to concentrate your chakra flow to the soles of your feet. Too much and it will break, too little and you won't be able to stick. And now, you may begin."

Naruto, Itachi, and Sakura took a running start up the tree. As soon as Naruto's feet touched the tree, he slipped fell down. "Ow-ow!"

He rolled onto his back. "Damn...this is really hard, right-" Naruto's eyes wandered up to Itachi and Sakura's tree. Both of them were already far up the base.

_'Everyone got up there?'_ "...hey! What's the big idea?!"

Kakashi examined his students. "Well females usually do have high stability in their chakra control and anyone who uses Genjutsu must have near precise control over their chakra."

After a while of watching Naruto try again and again, Itachi and Sakura sat together on a branch. Itachi simply started reading a book while Sakura continued to watch Naruto train.

"Sakura, Itachi. If you want, you can visit the village, I just have the feeling you two are getting bored up there."

Sakura nearly let out an excited squeal._ 'Yes! I'll be able to be with Itachi, without Naruto annoying us!' _

Itachi, along with Sakura following, jumped down from the tree branch. "No, I'm fine here, sensei."

_'WHAAAAAAAAT?!'_ "And I'll stay too." Sakura added, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Whatever suits you."

Naruto fell, face down onto the dirt, he got back up once again. Instead of running up th tree again, he walked over to Sakura and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey Sakura-chan...um could you help me with this? I wanna see exactly how you do it!" Naruto asked.

"Huh? Oh...of course, Naruto!"

_'Finally they're getting the teamwork.' _Kakashi thought to himself, noting Naruto's gesture.

"...Itachi," Kakashi called out. "Now that I think about, I would like you to protect Tazuna, just make sure no more enemies come after him."

Itachi left in an instant leaving Sakura and Naruto alone.

Naruto grinned. "Guess we're alone, huh Sakura?"

"Shut up and don't you dare get any ideas either!"

_That night..._

Long after Sakura and Kakashi left, Naruto was still in the forest trying to complete his sensei's lesson.

He fell back down again and again, but every time he got right back up. Each time he got closer and closer to reaching the top. "This is it now, Naruto! I'm gonna do it this time! I'm gonna go all the way!"

Naruto took a running start and ran straight up at the tree. He felt the wind course through spiky hair as he neared the top. A huge grin formed across his face. "I'm almost there! Yea-"

*crack*

The certain bark he placed his foot on was tender and broke easily under his weight. "Whoa-oh-" Naruto began falling down. "AAAHHHHHHH!"

Before he hit the ground, a hand grabbed his arm, and pulled him up, it was Itachi. "Itachi, Oi, I thought you were protecting Tazuna."

"It's near mid-night, Naruto, they've all went home. Also, I had a feeling you might still be here."

Naruto regained his footing onto a nearby tree branch while Itachi jumped off. "Hey wait! Where are you going?!" Naruto yelled.

"I'm going back to Tazuna's house, you should stay here, Naruto. I don't want you to become a burden to the team."

"No way!" Naruto clenched his stomach. "A ninja needs their food!" Naruto took a step and the branch broke off. "A-AHHHHHHHHHH!"

_Tazuna's house..._

"Those two are late." Sakura grumbled. "What's taking them so long?"

Finally, Naruto and Itachi burst through the door. "Naruto and Itachi, you're finally here!" Tazuna greeted as they took their seats at the table.

_'I have to eat as much as I can, I need the energy to fight.'_ Itachi thought to himself as he started to rapidly eat the food.

Itachi looked up, he saw Naruto eating his food even faster than him. He looked up and evil eyed Itachi. "You're my rival and I can't let you always beat me!"

_'...I'll give him what he wants, then, a rivalry.' _Itachi started to eat faster than Naruto, and Naruto ate even faster than him. Naruto gave Itachi a dirty look while Itachi just looked at him the way he always did.

Sakura sighed. _'Doesn't Naruto even know that he can't_ _beat Itachi?' _She looked around and noticed, Inari, Tazuna's grandson staring at a torn photo. "Hey Tazuna...why's that photo...torn ?" Sakura asked.

"The missing part of the picture was supposed to be Kaiza, who's Inari father figure. He used to be around with Inari, Tsunami, and I."

"Well what happened to him?"

"Sakura, you shouldn't get into other's business ." Kakashi scolded.

"No it's fine. You all deserve to know anyways, I will tell you the story of Inari and Kaiza."

"My grandson used to always be bullied around until a man named Kaiza came, Inari idolized Kaiza and thought of him like a real father which Kaiza then eventually adopted as. And since we've all lived as a family."

"It was on one day, it rained very hard, a flood emerged had threatened the survival of our small village. As everyone lost hope, Kaiza single-handedly risked his life to close the flood-gates when no one else would. From that fateful event on, Kaiza earned the title; _hero_."

"Although that ceased to last. One fateful day, Gatō came to our country and put us under his control. Kaiza of course, wanted to stop Gatō but he proved no match against Gatō and his gang. As punishment, Gatō executed him right in front of everyone, including my grandson, crushing the villager's and my grandson's hope. Since then no one has ever risen up against him."

"That's why..." Inari abruptly stood up from his seat. "There is no such thing as a hero!" He yelled.

"Heroes do exist!" Naruto yelled. "And I'll prove it to you, Inari." He said, he got up and ran off back to the forest, determined to train even harder that before.

* * *

A/N: **Day 2 of my re-edits! I fixed it up, so everything's 110%! And next time I'll show not tell flashbacks. **


	3. Chapter 3: Changing our hearts

**Recap: **After having a successful survival test, Team seven has their first real mission, not the stupid weasel one but a protection and escorting type one. Missing-nin Zabuza attacks, but he gets defeated of course...right?

Qqqquestions?

And this is a BIG chapter folks:)

* * *

Chapter 3: Changing our hearts

After having such a vigorous night of training Naruto fell asleep at the bottom of the tree. Itachi appeared by Naruto's spot. _'You're still here, Naruto?'_

"...Hello?" A voice called.

Naruto suddenly awoke with a startle. "What?!...Who are you?" He asked as he wiped the drool off his face.

Itachi took a look at this person. She was a very beautiful "girl", she wore a flowery pink kimono along with a black choker and in one hand she carried a basket nearly half-full of herbs.

"My name is Haku." The girl answered with a smile.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto proudly proclaimed, standing straight up.

"Itachi Uchiha." Itachi answered as well. _'This is definitely the hunter-nin we met before and there is no doubt in mind what she actually did to Zabuza, but what am I to gain from attacking a member of the Yuki clan?'_

"It's nice to meet the both of you!"

Itachi noticed the girl's basket, it wasn't full yet. _'Although, her jutsu won't be easily defeated with the fire jutsu I posses. If I go head to head with her right now there's also a possibility of Naruto attacking me.' _"Haku, let me help you with that." Itachi offered.

"Oh this? You don't have to."

_'Defeating Naruto will be easy, with the nine-tails factored in, even if he'll resent me, it is all for the better of Konoha.'_ "I insist."

"Well if you insist." She turned around and pointed to a section of the field. "Most of them are this way."

"Hey! I'll help too! Besides Itachi just picks all weeds!" Naruto yelled as he ran after them.

Haku, Itachi, and Naruto went over to a special section of the field and began to pick up some herbs. "Itachi! You're only picking the weeds up!" Naruto pointed out.

Haku laughed. "No Naruto, Itachi's picking up the herbs, you're picking up the weeds." She sweetly said.

Naruto's face started to turn a dark shade of red as he sheepishly threw the weeds back on the ground.

"...Naruto, Itachi, if I may ask, do you have a dream?" She asked, plopping another handful of herbs into her basket.

"To be the Hokage! That is my dream!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I don't have a dream." Itachi simply stated. _'If I attack my own teammate the Konoha council will act hostile to me since I am an Uchiha. Although I could care less whether they hate me or not they'll cease to keep me in the shinobi program and I won't be strong enough to keep my promise.'_

"My dream is to protect someone precious to me." Haku said. "I believe you are strongest when you're fighting to protect someone precious." Haku explained, picking up more herbs.

"Yeah I agree!" Naruto exclaimed. _'Like Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan and...'_ Naruto looked over to Itachi. _'and you too...Itachi-weasel.'_

"..." Itachi stared at the ground, he realized something. _'Fighting to protect someone precious?'_ He thought about Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto. _'Then what have I been really fighting for?...Not one of them are the least bit precious to me.'_

As soon as Haku's basket was filled to the brim, she stood up. "Thank-you both, for everything." She thanked. "Oh, and I'm a boy." With that, he began walking away

*sweat drops* "Wow. He's prettier than Sakura." Naruto said aloud in amazement. He pumped his fist into the air. "Alright! I got a tree to run up!" He yelled.

Itachi began walking back. "When you're done, Naruto. Just go back to Tazuna's."

_'Huh? There's something off about Itachi today.' _"Hey Itachi! Come on and race me to the top! I bet I'll win!"

"That is the last thing I want to do, I've finally realized what I am truly fighting for...my promise."

_That night back at Tazuna's..._

Everyone waited for Naruto to burst through the door yet again.

*BAM*

The door burst open and Naruto stumbled in, although he had bruises and scratches all over his face, his wide grin proved he was super happy. *ha* *hu* "I finally did it! I made it to the top! You should've seen me, Itachi!"

Itachi took a look at Naruto. "Do you honestly think I care?"

Naruto's smile dropped. "What..."

"You're just wasting your time!" Inari yelled, tears streamed down his face. "Gatō will defeat you! He always does!"

That was it. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST...BELIEVE IN US?! The only thing you are is a cry baby!" Naruto yelled, he left the room making everything go silent.

Inari ran outside to the porch while Itachi and Sakura left the table and walked back to their rooms.

Kakashi stood up and went outside to the porch, he saw Inari sitting down and sulking. Kakashi sat down next to Inari. "Inari, I'm sure Naruto didn't mean what he said, Naruto also grew up without a father and suffered through a lot in his life."

"When he was your age, Naruto used to cry a lot just like you...but unlike you he got tired of crying. I think he's just upset about how much he sees in himself when he looks at you." Kakashi explained.

Inari stared at Kakashi, there was something about Naruto that just gave him some sort of hope.

_The next morning..._

Seeing how bruised up Naruto truly was, Kakashi decided to leave Naruto in bed while the rest of Team seven left to protect Tazuna while he finished the bridge. As soon as they arrived, however, an unsettlingly thick fog covered the bridge.

Itachi looked around. "What's going on, sensei?"

"I'm not sure, but be on guard just in case."

Sakura moved closer to Itachi, she wasn't sure what she could do except become another burden.

Suddenly, several Zabuza clones appeared in front of Itachi and Sakura. Itachi took out a giant shuriken and hurled it at the clones, easily, they evaded it. However, much to their surprise, the giant shuriken circled back and destroyed the clones.

_'I knew he was going to come back.' _Kakashi thought to himself as Zabuza and the hunter-nin appeared.

"Are you surprised, Itachi?" Zabuza asked.

Kakashi pulled out a kunai knife. "Fortunately, no."

Itachi used his giant shuriken, and clashed with Haku's own kunai knife. "I had a feeling I would meet you here, Haku." Itachi said.

"..."

Itachi jumped back and weaved several signs as fast as he could. "Fire release: Great Dragon flame technique!" Itachi yelled, a gigantic fiery dragon head spewed out of his mouth and shot straight towards Haku.

Quickly, Haku leaped into the air to evade the attack.

"Disperse."

The dragon head dispersed into a huge fiery explosion. With no time to dodge, Haku got caught in the explosion.

Itachi looked up. "..."

Somehow, Haku landed on the bridge with nothing but a slightly burnt leg. He was quick.

_'Interesting, he dodged the entire attack.'_

This time it was Haku's turn to attack, he threw several senbon at Itachi but easily he dodged them.

_'So the Uchiha brat can keep up with Haku?' _Zabuza thought to himself, watching the two battle.

Haku prepared a powerful jutsu._ 'He's better than I thought, much better...'_ "Demonic mirroring ice crystals!" Haku yelled, several ice mirrors surfaced and circled around Itachi.

"My next move will have to be-"

"HEY GUYS! THE HERO'S FINALLY HERE!" Naruto yelled as he ran over to the battlefield. "Sorry I'm late, I had to take care of some business."

Zabuza was about to step in when he saw the hyper ninja running towards them.

"There's no need. I will finish them both." Haku reassured as he slipped into the mirrors.

Zabuza stood back. Trusting Haku to finish them off.

_'Ok...with Naruto attacking from the outside I think we can-'_

"Yo what's up!" Naruto greeted.

Itachi looked back to see Naruto was already in the mirrors with him. "Ha weasel! I won't let you take all the credit!"

_'Perfect.'_

"Alright! I think all we gotta do is take these mirrors down!" Naruto created several shadow clones, time and time again the clones tried to break the mirrors but each time they failed.

Haku appeared in all of the surrounding mirrors. Between his fingers he held several senbon. _'I'm sorry for this...'_ "This is where it ends." Haki threw the senbon at Naruto and Itachi, although it was too weak to do any major damage, it still inflicted some pain.

"Aargh! Nothing's working!" Naruto yelled.

"Wait a second! Itachi you baka! Your fire jutsu can melt this ice!" Naruto pointed out as they got hit with another round of senbon.

"I can't melt a kekkai genkai."

OoO

_'Those two...that has to be a kekkai genkai.' _Kakashi lifted up his forehead protector and decided to stop Haku himself, this battle was going to end early.

A large sword blocked him from going any further. "Your battle is with me, Kakashi and no longer can your sharigan work against me. I've already figured out your trick." Zabuza hissed, disappearing into the mist.

"Sakura! Protect Tazuna!" Kakashi instructed.

"I'm already ahead of you, sensei!"

In a flash, Zabuza swung his sword, Kakashi quickly ducked before his body got cut in half. Taking a closer look at Zabuza, he noticed his eyes were closed shut, rendering the sharigan useless. "My speciality is killing based only on sound." Zabuza explained, with that he disappeared once again. "That's why they call me, Demon of the Mist."

_'Where is he? Wait...I know where he'll attack next.'_

Zabuza ran up to Tazuna, he raised his sword and attempted to execute him once and for all

*SLASH*

Just before it hit, Kakashi shielded the attack with his arm. "Ka-kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed, blood dripped down from Kakashi's arm and landed in front of her.

"I told you, I will protect you all with my life!" He held out of his other arm and a charge of electricity started to build up.

XxxxxXxxx

Itachi had enough of this, he was tired of Naruto exhausting himself. "Give up already, Naruto. What don't you understand? There is absolutely nothing you can do."

"I understand, that I will never give up trying!" Naruto replied.

_'That's good Naruto, protect those who are precious to you.' _Haku thought to himself while he continued attacking.

Itachi knew this battle was going down-hill fast and no matter what he could think, nothing would work. At that instant, everything changed. Suddenly his eyes began to sting. "...what's happening?"

He looked in the mirrors and saw Haku physically jump in and out of at lightning speed, giving the illusion he was in all mirrors at once. Finally, Itachi had the upper-hand in battle. _'Is this power I now I have? This must be the power of the...sharigan.'_

"Itachi!"

Naruto jumped in front of Itachi as a sudden barrage of senbon came straight at him. "Why are you even trying to protect me?!" Itachi pushed Naruto out of the way, and caught the incoming senbon in between his fingers.

"Is that even a question?!" Naruto yelled "I protect you because...because...you and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei, all of you are precious to me!"

"..."

Itachi waited for Haku to jump between mirrors to land his strike. Right at the perfect moment, he threw the senbon and pierced straight through Haku's burnt section of his leg.

Haku noticed Itachi's eyes._ 'Itachi, he has the sharigan now?' _Hedecided to focus his attacks on just Naruto. He would be an easy target to kill.

"I'm sorry but I have to end this." Haku apologized.

Itachi noticed's Haku movements, there was a doubt in his mind who his target was. (_...'"I protect you because...because you and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei, all of you are precious to me!"'_)

Haku directed a barrage of senbon at Naruto, he exhausted way too much chakra for him to even try to dodge.

Just before the senbon landed on Naruto, Itachi shielded them away from him. "...! Itachi!"

_'...From now on I fight because of my beliefs, not because of a...promise.' _Itachi bent down and coughed up a mouthful blood. It was a miracle he hadn't died by now.

"...Itachi! Why did you protect me?!" Naruto yelled. "...I thought you didn't...care about us!"

"Is that even a...question? You helped me realize who I was fighting for, Naruto." He looked back and smiled despite the hellish pain he was in. "Team seven is precious to me!"

Itachi tipped over, quickly, he used his arms and caught himself. "I can't die yet, because now, I finally have a reason to live."

With all the blood loss Itachi's hand grew weakened, before he fell down, Naruto caught him just in time. "Itachi...ITAAACCHIIIII?!"

_'Itachi really is good.'_ "Naruto, is this your first time experiencing...death?" Haku asked.

Naruto's blood boiled. "ITACHI ISN'T DEAD!" He yelled, fangs grew from his mouth and fell onto his lips while his fingers nails formed into sharp claws. A foxed shaped cloak of blood orange wrapped around him, even his wounds began to heal.

_'This chakra feels...different...evil.'_ Haku thought.

OoO

Kakashi and Zabuza both sensed a new chakra, a different chakra, that concerned them both for different reasons. _'That can't be Kakashi's chakra, this chakra belongs to a tailed-beast.' _

_'The nine-tails chakra, what will I do if it gets out of control?!' _Kakashi thought to himself as he pulled out a scroll smeared with blood.

"It's over, Zabuza." Kakashi said.

OoO

Naruto swung his chakra tail and whipped it on the air. Seeing as there was nothing he could do, Haku went back to his regular attack. He threw several senbon at Naruto but just a mighty roar reflected all the senbon.

Haku took a different approach this time, with Naruto's new powers, his senbon were useless. He went front on and went to attack him close-range but before Haku could even reach Naruto, Naruto's chakra arms extended and grabbed Haku. He flung Haku through one of the mirrors, breaking it easily.

With one mirror broken, the rest shattered, destroying the jutsu.

Haku landed far off in an obsolete part of the bridge, pieces of his mask started to crumble and fall onto the bridge. Naruto rushed over to Haku in order to finish him off, he grabbed Haku by his shirt collar and reeled back his arm for his final punch.

"IT'S OVER YOU BAS-"

More pieces of his mask fell off, revealing his entire face.

"...! Haku!" Naruto's fox cloak dissolved, returning him to his original form.

Haku looked up. "Why are you sparing me?" He asked.

Out of anger, Naruto punched Haku in the face making him fall backwards.

He got back up. "I failed my master. Now I am nothing more than a broken tool. All I have left is to die." Haku explained.

"Why do you want to die so badly?" Naruto asked.

"Because, from the time I was born, I've always been of no use to anyone...except for one..."

OoooO

_Flashback..._

_In the Land of Water, I once lived in a small village, however, a war broke out, changing everything. After a narrow victory by our people, those possessing a kekkai genkai were feared and hated as they were a reminder of the past war. _

_My family and I were once peaceful, but my mother hid a secret that she kept even from her own husband. My mother possessed a kekkai genaki. _

Haku sat by the river bed, although he was tasked to bring back clean water, Haku was completely mesmerized by the cuteness of the bunny that drank the river water. "Such a cute bunny!" Haku gushed.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a duck drove past by it and water was about to splash on the poor thing. Somehow, Haku was able to manipulate the water, letting the bunny hop away, dry. Quickly, he filled the pail, wanting to show his mother a newfound gift

_After discovering my ability to manipulate water I decided to show my mother. It was then and there I realized something. I too had possessed a kekkai genkai._

He ran to the back of their small house. "Mother, mother, look what I can do!"

Haku's mother turned around, she saw Haku manipulating the water right before her eyes.

"...This happines I worked so hard to build." His mother raised her hand and slapped Haku right on his face. "I DON'T EVER WANT YOU TO DO THAT AGAIN!" She shouted.

His mother bent down, she felt so horrible after slapping him. "I'm sorry..." She hugged Haku. "Just please never do that again."

In the shadows, however, Haku's father had already seen everything.

_...once I did she shouted and slapped me, unknowingly my father saw my special ability and gathered up a small mob to kill my mother and I._

Finally after gathering up a small mob, he found Haku and his wife. Haku's dad raised his ax as tears fell from his eyes. With one mighty swing, he lodged his ax into her skull, cracking it and spewing blood everywhere.

_They already killed my mother so they attempted to kill me next. However, out of complete fear and anger, I created several large ice spikes and killed the entire mob, along with my father and I was horrified by what I had done. _

_With no where else to live I ran away from my village and survived on the cold streets and for the longest time, I experienced the worst pain of all; rejection._

Haku crawled over to an area of the cold stone bridge, he was starving and absolutely miserable.

By fate, a young Zabuza walked up to the boy. He looked deep into his eyes and saw a reflection of himself in them, a part of him who was forced to kill all his classmates, a part he could never forget. As the days grew colder Zabuza finally asked the boy a question.

"Boy, what's your name?" Zabuza asked.

"Haku."

"Come with me Haku and become my weapon."

_That day when Master Zabuza asked me to come with him I felt needed again and I joyfully accepted. Master Zabuza made me useful, he gave me have a purpose and that__ is why he is my precious one who I wish to protect._

OoooO

"Now that you've defeated me, I am nothing but a broken tool." Haku finally finished.

OoO

Using the blood stained scroll, Kakashi summoned several ninja dogs. Despite it being blindingly foggy, the dogs tracked Zabuza and restrained him.

Kakashi walked up to them. "My dogs are only play-biting with you, at my command they could easily rip your flesh apart.

"How did you even...do this?" Zabuza asked.

"When you were going for Tazuna, I only let you cut my arm so my blood would be on your sword. With that my dogs could instantly track you."

Kakashi hand glow with electricity. "This will be the end for you." He charged at Zabuza with his famous move; the lightning cutter.

OoO

"Do you truly want this?" Naruto asked again as he got out a kunai knife.

"This is what I truly want."

Naruto began walking over to Haku, gripping his kunai in his hands. "You know what the funny thing is? I bet we could've been really good friends." Naruto sighed, then made up his mind, he charged at Haku with all his might.

Haku held up his palm and stopped the kunai, blood profusely dropped down. "...I'm sorry Naruto. I can't die here." He said.

OoO

Kakashi charged at Zabuza with the Lightning cutter. As he was doing so, mirrors started to appear around Zabuza as Kakashi's footsteps progressed even further towards his target.

*bam*

Kakashi looked up, he saw that his jutsu impaled straight through Haku instead of Zabuza, just barely missing his internal organs._ 'It happened, again. History always manages to...'_

_'...repeat itself.'_

_The village..._

_'Now it's my turn to save you, Naruto.'_ Inari knocked on someone's door, he had on kitchen made armor, the door finally opened up. "Would you like to join the rally to defeat Gatō?" Inari asked.

"No. Go back home, kid."

"Oh..."

Door after door Inari got the same answer: no. The villagers had lost hope just like he once did. It felt like there was nothing he could do.

Inari walked over to the last house of the village. He knocked on the door."Please just help me!" Inari pleaded.

"That's impossible, Gatō always wins. Why would you want to go against that?" The woman asked, she had such a miserable look on her face.

"I just...I just want to protect everyone I love! Don't you understand?! Crying wo-"

The door slammed in Inari's face, saddened, he walked all the way back home.

Inari trudged back to his house. "I guess the only option is to go alone." As soon as he stepped foot through the doorway, Tsunami bent down to his level and placed her hands on his shoulders. "What are you trying to do, Inari?!"

Inari raised his strainer. "I'm going to fight Gatō!"

"What aren't you understanding? You can't fight Gatō!" She yelled.

He stepped back from her. "I am Kaiza's son so I have to fight and be a hero!" He turned around and ran off.

_Unfinished Bridge..._

Naruto looked around, Haku was no where to be seen. _'What happened to Haku?' _He picked up his kunai and ran off to search for him. Naruto kept on running and running until he finally found him. "...! HAKU!" Naruto yelled as he ran up to them.

_'Good Haku.' _Zabuza pulled out his sword and attempted to slice Kakashi, quickly, while carrying the corpse, he jumped away from Zabuza's strike.

"Sensei!" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi took his hand out of Haku's body and laid him on the ground. "Naruto, stay out of this." He ordered.

With the mist nearly cleared up, Sakura, walked up to Naruto, she didn't see Itachi with him. "Where's...Itachi-kun?" She asked.

"..." Naruto looked away, he squeezed his fist, he wasn't strong enough to protect him.

"I understand." Sakura escorted Tazuna to find Itachi herself. Finally, she found Itachi lying in his own pool of blood with senbon all over the place sticking up from his back.

"Itachi-kun..." Sakura started to say, she bent down to Itachi's level and held his hand.

"I was always one of the best students in our class, I knew the very first to the very last rule to being a shinobi." Sakura said to Tazuna. "Do you know what the first rule is to being a shinobi?"

"..."

Tears dropped down on Itachi's hand. "Shinobi must never show their feelings."

Faintly, Sakura felt Itachi's hand squeeze her own. "...Itachi-kun..." Sakura broke down and cried, breaking the first rule of shinobi.

OoO

Zabuza and Kakashi clashed again, lightning cutter to blade. Every single time, Kakashi knocked back Zabuza. With one fellow swoop, Kakashi's Lightning cutter shot through Zabuza's arm, rendering it useless. Zabuza used his one good arm and held up his blade to attack, yet again, Kakashi knocked him back and with another fellow swoop of his kunai he struck Zabuza's other arm, making both of his arms practically useless.

The blade dropped onto the bridge.

"So the great demon of the mist finally drops his sword?"

Everyone turned around to see Gatō himself, along with his gang, arrive at the bridge. "You still haven't killed Tazuna yet I see. We'll just have to execute him ourselves."

"What will you do now, Zabuza? Looks like Haku's dead." Gatō said out loud, seeing Haku's cold, lifeless body.

"Haku was just a tool to me. Now he is useless." Zabuza scoffed. "I could careless."

Naruto could take this any longer. "What're you talking about?! You were precious to Haku and now you're just...just throwing him away like that?!" Naruto yelled. "You don't treat others like objects! Haku was never your tool!"

"..."

He clenched his fist, tears started streaming down his face. "Haku died believing he was a tool. Nothing more than just an object for your use," Naruto said a bit more quietly. "Haku's dream...his dream was to protect a bastard like you, protecting you was his entire life!"

"..."

Zabuza stared at Haku's lifeless body.

OoooO

_Flashback..._

"Haku, hurry up and put that thing down." Zabuza ordered as they trudged up the damp hill.

Haku sadly dropped the brown rabbit and let it hop away, in front of Zabuza. He dropped his head in dismay. "...Fine kid, play with it." Zabuza grumbled.

Haku's head lifted up as he continued to play with the brown rabbit.

_Training..._

This time, Haku practiced throwing senbon at live targets. Each throw, he hit them perfectly. Zabuza walked over and inspected the targets. They weren't dead like he wanted them to be. "You're too nice, Haku. You hit them all in the least lethal places." Zabuza pointed out as he took out the senbon from their bodies.

"I apologize Master Zabuza, next time I'll kill them and become your ultimate weapon."

OoooO

Zabuza as well felt tears rolling down his face, this kid, got him to cry. Zabuza tore off his bandages revealing incredibly pointed teeth. "Yeah that's right, I bet you're surprised I'm not a demon." He motioned to Naruto. "Blonde kid, give me that kunai." Zabuza instructed.

Naruto handed him a kunai and he clamped it in his mouth, immediately, he took off towards Gatō's incoming gang. Zabuza slashed through his gang with ease, the pain he felt didn't matter since he kept on-going. His only goal was to kill Gatō.

Zabuza quickly approached Gatō. "There's only one place demons like you and me go to," Zabuza started to say.

"What're you going to-" Gatō stammered, terrified.

"WE'RE GOING TO HELL!" Zabuza screamed, he struck the kunai in his stomach making blood splatter everywhere. Gatō tipped back. "No, no! I don't want to go there! Please!"

Zabuza lifted up his leg and pushed Gatō into the lake, where he finally drowned.

"Thank-you. Haku." Zabuza huffed, with the last of his energy he fell down.

_Sakura and Itachi..._

Itachi shifted his head. "...Sakura?" Itachi hoarsely asked. "ITACHI-KUN!" Sakura squealed, she picked Itachi up and squeezed the life out of him.

_'...she's removed all the senbon...' _"Sakura, what happened to Haku?" Itachi asked.

"Kakashi-sensei...killed him."

"Is that so?"

"...Sakura, it would be nice if you stopped hugging me." Itachi added.

Sakura let go of Itachi and he tried standing up, but because of his overuse of the sharigan, the strain was unbearable. *ha* *ha* "Zabuza's still alive isn't he?"

"Your chakra is nearly depleted! You'll die if you fight!"

"I don't have time to care about things like." He got back up and coughed up more blood, despite everything, he continued walking. "I've already calculated-"

Sakura grabbed onto Itachi's arm. "I'm sorry, but no matter what calculation you've come with, I cannot allow you to be so _reckless_."

"...!"

OoO

With Gatō dead, the gang attacking the town had to be good enough. Althought, with the little numbers they had, the gang still charged for the town. Using the last bit of his chakra, Kakashi weaved several signs. Thankfully, as the gang neared the town the an arrow landed right in front of them.

_'Good. I won't have to_ _waste my chakra.'_

"We're coming to save ya' guys!" Inari yelled, he along with the whole town population created a small army of themselves, all of them were prepared to attack. The gang, intimated by just their sheer numbers ran away and boarded their boats they came on.

With them gone, Kakashi walked up to the nearly dead Zabuza. "I would like to see Haku again one last time...please." Zabuza pleaded.

"Of course." Kakashi complied, he picked up the body and laid it next to Haku.

Light snow drizzled down onto Zabuza and Haku. "I wondered...are you crying Haku?" Zabuza looked up at the falling snow. "You've always been by my side and now I'll return your favor."

"I'm sorry for treating you the way I did, I wish you knew that I don't think of you as a tool."

With his last words Zabuza stated the truth, his desire. "My only wish is to go where you're going."

"You will be with Haku in death, I know you two will be together, forever." Kakashi remarked.

XxxxxXxxx

After everyone finally left Zabuza and Haku's burial ground, Naruto still stood there. "From now on, I will never let anyone tell me how to live my life."

With a big smile on his face, Naruto ran over to the bridge where the rest of his team along with Tazuna and Inari were waiting.

"Thank you Team seven for completing the mission and saving our village." Tazuna said, a hint of sadness showed, it would be a while before they got to see each other again.

Naruto looked at Inari, he was definitely about to burst into tears at any moment. "It's okay to cry, as long as they're happy tears!"

"I'm not gonna cry!" Inari replied.

"...Yeah well me neither!"

Naruto and Inari turned around and began bawling their eyes out. "Idiots." Sakura grumbled.

As Team seven walked off into the distance, Tazuna thought up of the perfect name. "This bridge is going to be called The Great Naruto bridge." Tazuna announced. "For Naruto helping my grandson earn his strength."

Inari wiped his tears away and smiled. "Yeah okay!" He exclaimed as he ran off to tell the village.

* * *

A/N: Sorry guys I didn't get to the part I wanted, but at least this arc is FINISHED! Start your engines folks! Chūnin exams begin next chapter! The boring part, but...but...still a part.

**Day 3 of my re-edits. If you are reading this on July 10/11th of 2015, I advise you to wait a day before reading Chapter 4. Unless I already have updated it, if so, you'll know immediately.**

**Note! **So far the plot has stayed fairly consistent with the real thing, yeah that's about to change, big time.


	4. Chapter 4: Start your engines!

**Recap: **Itachi awakens his sharigan which begins everything. Land of Waves arc happened, Haku and Zabuza died. New bridge and people are happy. My recaps suck.

* * *

Chapter 4: Start your engines!

Yet again, it was another beautiful morning. As Itachi got ready and did his daily morning routine, his sensei; Kakashi was at a meeting along with all the other jounin.

Itachi took a look at his portrait of Team seven. The portrait depicted Itachi with his usual expressionless face while Naruto intensely glared at him. Sakura, on the other hand was overly excited, smiling and acting all cute while Kakashi was just Kakashi.

Itachi stared at the calendar._ '...the Chūnin exams are soon aren't they? Right after that mission we had?' _He slipped on his usual dark gray high neck collar shirt then tied on his forehead protector.

He stepped out of his house and walked over to the meeting place where Team seven was supposed to gather up. Just as Itachi entered their meeting spot, however, only Naruto was there.

As soon as he saw Itachi, Naruto jumped from the tree branch he was sleeping on and approached him. "Hey Itachi, I never got to show you _my_ jutsu!" Naruto slyly said.

"You can do more than just one jutsu?"

"Of course I can, weasel! I can do two!"

Itachi sat himself down on a cold, flat rock. "Can you show me?"

Naruto jumped off the branch he was laying on and stood in front of Itachi. "Ready? Sexy technique!" He yelled.

In an instant, Naruto turned into a tall, sexy woman with giant, bouncy breasts. She bent down and blew Itachi a kiss. "Do you like what you see, Itachi-kun?"

There was a flicker of emotion in Itachi's face. "I am not and never will be attracted to that body, if that's the response you were looking for."

"What?!" Naruto poofed back into his original form. "How could you not like it?! She was so hot and sexy and she had such big plump-"

"CHA!" Sakura came running towards Naruto and pounded him on the head. "And that's what you get, pervert!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Sakura-chan!"

"Never do that again!"

Late as usual, Kakashi finally appeared in front of them. "Hello everyone! I thought as a break you could all do some easy missions."

"Yeah like what?" Naruto grumbled.

Kakashi pulled out some dogs. "Walking dogs!"

Day after day, it was always boring D-rank mission after boring D-rank mission along with some failed one-sided romance attempts from Naruto to get Sakura to notice him and even some failed attempts from Sakura to get Itachi to notice her.

XxxxxXxxx

With no mission today, Itachi decided he should take a nice walk for once, it's been a while since he has and being cooped up in his house reading text books wasn't all that exciting. He decided to walk in the alley where it was quiet.

"Konohamaru, stop following me." Itachi said suddenly, even before the slightest of movement.

Konohamaru, apparently camouflaged by a box revealed himself. "Wow handy man! You could tell we were here, even without us even moving!" Konohamaru exclaimed.

Naruto popped from behind the box, he ran towards Itachi, weaving a certain jutsu. "If you can't appreciate my sexy jutsu then try this on for size! REVERSE SEXY TECHNIQUE!"

A tall, naked and sexy man, appeared in front of Itachi. He had spiky wavy hair and gorgeously chiseled abs.

Itachi sighed. "I told you, I will never be attracted to that body."

"Aw come on!" Naruto once again changed back into his original form. "What the hell is gonna turn you on then?!"

"I am not obligated to tell you anything."

"...bastard." Naruto muttered.

"Hey Bro and Itachi!" Two other kids came from behind the box. "These are my friends Udon and Moegi! We wanna become ninja just like you!"

Itachi smiled, this generation was brighter than he thought. "Is that s-" Before he could finish, Moegi started squeezing him.

"Itachi! You're cuter than I imagined!" Moegi squealed.

Naruto stared at Itachi in jealousy._ '...Itachi seems to be a magnet for girls.' _

"And I've read so much about you." Udon stated, in awe.

Naruto pouted. _'They're ignoring me and giving Itachi all the attention!'_

Sakura just happened to be walking by and saw a young girl was hugging Itachi. _'CHA! That girl's gonna get a beat down!' _"Hey hands-" Sakura started to say as she ran over to them.

Before she could say anymore, Naruto ran over to Sakura and hugged her. "Sakura-chan! I'm so glad you're here!" He exclaimed.

"Oh I see. I thought miss pink hair would go for Itachi, but I guess Naruto-bro has got some smooth moves." Konohamaru congratulated.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"...oh yeah. She's totally in love with me!"

_'Now I get what these clowns are saying!' _Sakura pushed Naruto off, before he could run, Sakura punched Naruto in the face sending him flying. "You're next Konohamaru." Sakura hissed, glaring at him like a demon.

"AHHHHHHH! YOU'RE A DEMONNNNN!" Konohamaru screamed as Sakura began chasing him, Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. "Konohamaru, watch where you're-" Too late. Not looking where he was going Konohamaru accidentally ran into a someone.

Konohamaru looked up. This guy, he had never seen him before. "Oh sorry I-"

The shinobi pulled him up by his shirt collar. "Kid, what the hell do you think you're doing?" He barked.

"Kankurō stop, he's just a kid." The girl behind him scolded, she held a large fan behind her back and a forehead protector that signified she was a shinobi as well.

Kankurō grinned and clung the collar tighter. "Heh, I couldn't care less."

"Konohamaru!" Moegi and Udon yelled, tears poured down Moegi's face while snot dribbled down Udon's lips.

Kankurō started to pull back his arm. "Won't this be fu-" Kankurō felt a stabbing pain through his arm, he looked back and saw the quiet kid wearing the dark gray collar had pierced through his flesh with something, he grabbed his arm to stop the blood from dripping. "What the hell did you hit me with?!"

Itachi twirled a blade of grass between his fingers. "Only a blade of grass."

"Oh you wanna play with me?" Kankurō set down the bandaged thing behind his back. "Alright, let's have a little-"

"Kankurō. That's enough."

_Third Hokage's office..._

"As you may know the Chūnin exams are coming up," Third Hokage announced as he blew smoke from his pipe. "Kurenai Yūhi, Asuma Sarutobi, and Kakashi Hatake, speak up now if you do or do not want to enter your genin into the Chūnin exams."

Asuma spoke up. "Team 8's: Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi are all qualified for the Chūnin exams."

Next it was Kurenai. "Team 10's: Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzaka, and Shino Aburame are all qualified for the Chūnin exams."

Finally, Kakashi, Iruka gave a grim look but he ignored it and spoke up anyways. "Team 7's: Naruto Uzumaki, Itachi Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno are all qualified for the Chūnin exams."

"...excuse me!" Iruka interrupted. "But I've taught each and every one of these students, and Naru-I mean _everyone_ is not ready for the exams. They've all just recently became genin."

"Iruka, I can understand how you feel but they are no longer your students. They're ours." Kakashi stated. "And it's our choice whether or whether they are ready."

XxxxxXxxx

Everyone looked up, miraculously, the no-eyebrow shinobi was able to get up there soundless. "We apologize for any trouble."

"What's your name?" Itachi asked.

"My name is Temari." Temari answered.

"I mean the one up in the tree."

"...oh..."

"My name is Garra, what about you?" Garra asked.

"Uchiha Itachi."

Garra glanced at Itachi, his face seemed just as expressionless as his, if not more. _'Impressive, he pierced through Kankurō's skin with only a blade of grass.'_

Itachi took a glance at Gaara as well, he already had an idea of his power. _'Gaara, he must be a great sand ninja, getting up the tree like that without making a sound. Impressive.'_

Sakura noticed the forehead protectors the group of shinobi wore, they definitely weren't from Konoha. "...You guys are from Sunagakure, aren't you? While it's true Suna is an ally of the leaf, you can't just come in here like that." Sakura pointed out, she stole a glance from Itachi, hoping he would look proud but he looked as stoic as ever.

"That's some very good detective skills you got there." Temari humored her remark and took out her license. "But we do have permission, actually, we've come for the Chūnin exams."

"Ch-chūnin exams?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"The Chūnin exams are a series of selection test to see whether or whether not you'll advance from a genin to a chūnin." Itachi explained.

"Exactly. That's why we're here."

_The next day..._

Team seven was rounded up once again, not another mission, but rather, a question Kakashi had to ask. Unlike yesterday, it was a chilled windy day signaling fall would be coming up.

"I'm not sure if you know this already, but the Chūnin exams are here...I'll give you all until tomorrow to decide whether or not you would like to part-" Kakashi began explaining.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world! 'Cause that one step closer to becoming-" Naruto cutoff, pumping his fist up.

This time, Kakashi got to cut-off Naruto. "Hokage and that's my dream. We get it, Naruto."

"Believe it." Itachi added.

_'This should be interesting. I can only think of what the Jounin exams might be like.' _Itachi thought.

"That is all." In a flash, Kakashi left, leaving the team to think of what they could do next.

_'But what have I done except for standing around with a kunai in my hand?' _Sakura walked home alone. What talents did she even posses? All she could be was a burden.

"...hey Sakura."

Lost in her train of thought she had no idea her biggest love was standing right next to her. "Itachi-kun!" Sakura exclaimed.

He got right to the point. "Sakura. Forget the Chūnin exams." Itachi plainly yet coldly stated.

"Wha-why?"

"You're very weak, Sakura." His tone was so spiteful.

"Itachi...why are you telling me this?" Sakura asked as if the words that spat out of his mouth were just lies.

"Because all you are to me, is a burden to _us._"

Sakura clenched her fist. "...no. Itachi would never say that!" She reeled back her arm and punched him in the face, sending him flying.

'Itachi' changed back to his original form and started scrambling off.

"That's what I thought! And don't come back! Now I am definitely joining these stupid exams!"

_The day after..._

_'I guess the Chūnin exams begin here!' _Naruto ran his fingers through his spiky blonde hair and quickly got dressed. "I'm so pumped for these exams!"

OoO

Sakura flipped out her favorite comb and put it through her long pink hair. '_So the exams are today, huh? I wonder who'll make it?'_

OoO

Itachi stared in the mirror, his hair was perfect the way it was; short. _'The exams will certainly bring about disaster.'_

OoO

Finally, all of Team seven were in the registration entrance. All of them nodded to each other, Naruto pushed open the door. Today would begin the exams. As soon as they walked in, they were greeted by a ton of ninja spread out across the hall. Naruto looked around the halls in awe. "Woah! This is so awesome!"

"Hey losers!" A guy taunted, seeing another batch of genin had come through the door.

"Will you just stop?!" Another girl yelled.

"You heard her!" Naruto yelled to the bullies. "Stop it already!"

"Oh yeah? What's mister hot-shot gonna do about it?" The bully challenged.

"THIS!" Naruto started running over to them. "I'm gonna show you how much my fists h-" Just as he was nearing in on the two bullies, much to his surprise, they had already fell flat onto the floor without him even lifting a finger. "Huh? What's going on?"

Itachi poked Naruto on the forehead. "Fight another time, Naruto."

He picked the genin up and put them in a small corner by the staircase. "...next time get better disguises." Itachi mumbled under his breath.

Naruto rubbed the spot where Itachi poked him. _'Why did he...poke me?' _

"Whoa! That was super awesome, mister!" One of the two victims yelled, he wore a green body suit along with bright orange leg warmers. But the only thing that really stood out were those bushy-bushy eyebrows.

"You're so amaz-" Bushy brows took a look at Sakura and instantly fell in love, forgetting everything he was about to say, he ran up to Sakura with hearts glowing in his eyes. "You! Will you be my girlfriend? My heart burns for you!"

"No way!" Sakura replied. "That's it, we're outta here!" She grabbed Itachi's and Naruto's wrist then dragged them away.

After they left another shinobi came in. His eyes were blank, pupiless. "Let's go." The guy ordered.

"Yeah..." _'That guy...how strong is he?'_ Bushy brows guy started to stray off. "I'll catch up with you guys...later."

OoO

Finally, Team seven was just one door away from the registration center. Sakura pushed open a giant door to a large room, a training field. Just directly across from it was the door to the registration center.

"My name is Rock Lee! What is yours?" Rock Lee asked, appearing suddenly out of nowhere."

"Uchiha Itachi."

_'...Itachi...Itachi' _"ITACHI! I challenge you right here and now!" Rock Lee yelled, he jumped down and got in a fighting pose.

"WHY NOT ME?!" Naruto yelled, he ran over to Rock lee and prepared to strike him.

Lee grabbed Naruto's fist. "I didn't challenge you, that's why." He flung Natuto into the nearby wall. "So what do-"

"I accept."

Without warning, Rock Lee ran up ahead and decided to a sweep kick Itachi, easily blocked his kicked with his arm.

Itachi stood back and began to weave hand signs to a new jutsu. "Fire release: Great fireball technique!" He yelled, a monstrous fireball shot out of Itachi's mouth and came directly towards Rock lee.

Just before the jutsu landed, Lee jumped away.

Almost instantly, Itachi felt a slight presence, it was Rock lee, he somehow got behind him. Seeing an opening, Lee raised his leg and smashed his foot into Itachi's back, sending him flying across the room.

Lee appeared once again behind Itachi who was still in a daze from the last attack, using this opportunity, Lee kicked Itachi in the jaw, making Itachi's blood fly across the room.

"ITACHI-KUN! NO!" Sakura screamed as she ran up to Itachi.

"Rock Lee-kun, that was very good." Itachi praised.

The Itachi Lee was fighting suddenly blew up in smoke. It was merely a clone this entire time.

The real Itachi shot out from the ground and jabbed Rock Lee in the stomach, hard. Blood spurted from Lee's mouth as he was sent flying towards the ceiling. As fast as he was up in the air, Lee came crashing down to the ground.

*BAM*

A cloud of dust filled the room as Lee finally made contact with the ground. "Have you had enough, Lee-kun?" Itachi asked.

"NO WAY!" Lee came flying out of the dust, he was fired up more than ever to beat this guy once and for all. Itachi sighed. "Another time, Lee-kun." With one fellow swoop, his hand snatched Lee's leg and threw him across the room.

Despite everything, Lee still got up, this was it, his final move. He started to unravel the bandages around his arms. However, before he could activate his move, a giant tortoise shell came down flying down. Lee stopped immediately and walked over to it.

"Huh? What's that thing?"

"Grrr! Naruto, I thought you were knocked out!" Sakura yelled.

"Yeah I was, but I just woke up."

"Lee! You're not suppose to use forbidden techniques!" The tortoise scolded, he had a forehead protector tied around his neck signifying a certified ninja animal.

"Wait, is that his...sensei?" Naruto slowly asked as he watched Lee talk to the turtle.

*sweat drops* "He's even weirder that I thought." Sakura sighed.

Itachi brushed off some dust particles. _'That has to be a summoning animal, but Lee can't do ninjutsu so how could he...?'_

All of a sudden, another guy appeared who looked just like Lee only with a flak jacket and a more chiseled face. Ningame, the tortoise, told the guy of Lee's almost disaster.

The guy nodded. "Is that so?" With a bright and flashy yet cocky smile he punched Lee in the face.

"...did he just..." Sakura started to say even more confused.

"I'm sorry sensei!" Lee cried while a waterfall of tears ran down his eyes.

Might Guy started to cry too as he bent down and hugged Rock Lee. "Lee! You weren't supposed to!"

Even the tortoise started crying along with them making a huge emotional scene. Guy suddenly stood up and flashed another smile. "That's it, Lee! More laps, let's go!" He exclaimed.

Now with fire in his eyes, Lee got pumped up despite crying earlier. "Yeah! Let's do this!"

"And the power of youth prevails!" With those last words the three disappeared to do a hundred or so more laps.

Sakura ran up to Itachi and squeezed him. "Oh Itachi-kun! You beat him! I never doubted you for a second!"

"Perhaps, Rock Lee is more superior than me at taijustu, if he finished that technique I would've I would've had to forfeit." Itachi grimly stated.

"Forefit?!" Naruto asked.

"I would've been forced to go all out on him."

A look of fear spread across Sakura's face. _'All out? Then does that mean that fight they had...that wasn't the best Itachi could do?!'_

Itachi smiled. "Well, shall we go on ahead?"

"Yeah let's do it!"

"Of course!"

Opening another door, Kakashi appeared. "So, have all of you made your decision?"

"Oh yeah! Dattebayo!"

Itachi nodded.

"Sakura, how about you?"

"Me too!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Good, good." Kakashi got out his book and began reading. "I just want you all to know that if one of your teammates decided not to enter, none of you could enter. All I wanted to do was make sure that _you_, Sakura wanted to join without Naruto trying to pander you."

"What me?! Itachi would do it too!" Naruto yelled.

"No, he wouldn't. Well, without further ado..." Kakashi finally opened the door. "You may begin.

XxxxxXxxx

To Team seven's surprise, there were hundreds of genin all there to take the test, some gruff looking, some scary looking. Some of the Sand village, some of the Sound village and some of the Leaf village.

"Heh, I wouldn't think they'd let a billboard brow like you in." A familiar voice scoffed.

_Itachi: *This is Ino. Just like Sakura she can be very...difficult to deal with at certain times, but her mind-transfer jutsu, in time, will be just as proficient as her father's.*_

"INO-PIG!" Sakura growled, a vein popped out of her forehead as she intensely glared at her rival.

"Guys. Not the time and place."

_Naruto: *That lazy guy is Shikamaru. I swear, with his attitude, I don't even know how he gets out of bed every morning. The only thing he isn't lazy about though, is his shadow possession jutsu.*_

"Stop being so...troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, with his hands casually in his pockets he looked like he wanted to go back to bed.

"Yeah," Another guy right beside Shikamaru chomped on a couple more potato chips. "you heard Shikmaru!" He enforced.

_Itachi: *And here we have Choji. Choji is Shikamaru's best friend and eats every second he gets to build up chakra. On a side note, his expansion jutsu is quite outstanding.*_

"What's your deal? All you do is eat!" Naruto grumbled.

"'Cause I'm hungry all the time, duh!"

"Well, well. If it isn't the whirlpool of Konoha's lackluster Team seven?" Kiba said in such an ignorant way.

_Naruto: *As annoying as Ino is, Kiba is ten times worse. He's more smug than Itachi if that's even possible, and apparently, his dog counts as a ninja weapon!*_

Naruto glared at his smug smirk. "Shut the hell up, Kiba!"

"Heh. Uzumaki, always a card to play aren't you?"

"Hey guys, stop it ok?" Shikamaru cut in.

Kiba's slit pupils looked to Shikamaru. "Oh yeah? Are you gonna whine to me again or is Choji gonna have to get his fat-"

Choji finished his bag of barbecue chips. "What'd you say about me?" He cut off.

Someone shady stepped in between them and blocked Choji's way. "Careful." The guy muttered, shifting his black shades.

_Itachi: *This is Shino, he is a master at using his bug type jutsu, although, everyone thinks he's creepy and stoic. Much like me.*_

"What're you talking about?" Choji asked, kinda creeped out.

"You almost stepped on it, that bug." Shino pointed out and sure enough a bug crawled by.

"...weird."

"HEY! Don't you dare insult my teammate!" Kiba snapped.

"Kiba," Itachi spoke up this time. "isn't Hinata on your team?"

"Yeah."

"Where is she?"

"Here." A small voice piped up.

_Naruto: *So here's Hinata. She's alright I guess, but she's like really quiet and gets super embarrassed every time I even look at her long enough. One time, Itachi told me that "a child born with both Hyuga and Uzumaki blood would likely grow up to become a powerful shinobi", whatever that means.*_

"H-hi Naruto." Hinata shyly stammered.

"Oh hi Hinata!"

Hinata started to blush crimson. "H-how are y-yo-" Hinata stammered as her face got redder and redder.

"Naruto stop! You're scaring her!" Kiba yelled.

"Then how come she can stand you!" Naruto snapped back.

"...You shouldn't make so much commotion you know." A guy with a leaf forehead said.

Everyone noticed the cold stares they were getting from the other genin.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"Kabuto Yakushi. All of you...the _rookies_ here at the Chūnin exams probably don't know how this works. "I've collected info and data on most of the genin here and I have a great amount of information."

"Really, is this your first time?" Itachi asked.

"No. I've been here _quite_ awhile." Kabuto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Like four years I believe, but because of that, I've obtained these cards." He flipped out a deck of cards.

_'There is something unsettling about this person...'_ "What are these?" Itachi asked.

"Chakra cards. They're blank now..." Kabuto pressurized the card with his chakra. "If you use your chakra to activate it, all the information you need is now available." He showed Itachi the same card but now it had pictures on it.

"And you say you have a card on every shinobi here?"

"Correct."

"Then...could you look up _Gaara_?"

Kabuto shuffled through his deck and pulled out a blank card. He activated, the card showed a small image of Gaara along with his stats._ 'Looks like not much is known about him.' _"I wonder, do you have any information about yourself, Kabuto?" Itachi asked.

_'...! Why would he ask me to do that?'_ "Sorry, can't help you there."

"This year's Chūnin exams are extra rough." He sighed as he put his deck away. "And you guys shouldn't be making a bad first impression."

"Yeah well so what?" Naruto turned to genin in the back. "I'm gonna beat every one of you, and ya' better believe it!" Naruto yelled as he pumped up his fist.

* * *

A/N: **Day 4 of my re-edits! Yes people, these damn edits are taking a full day to complete. It's painful. Chapter 13 at the latest will come out in 2-3 weeks. Anyways, if you are reading this on July 13th, 2015 I'd highly advise you to wait a day or two before reading Chapter 5.**

**Old news**: I did put a poll in

update will be next week at latest!


	5. Chapter 5: Ready, set, GO! Exams begin!

**Recap: **Team 7 signs up for the exams, but things never go as planned, Itachi beats Rock Lee and the entire Rookie 9 ninja come in on the scene. Kabuto makes his first appearance, (get used to him folks) and gives Itachi some info on upcoming ninja.

* * *

Chapter 5: Ready, set, GO! Exams begin

That comment blew a short fuse between the genin in the back, and suddenly, everyone got angry. A group of shinobi from Oto glared at Kabuto. "Under seller!" One of them barked.

When things got full blown messy, not even the trainee-proctors could settle things down.

"Ahem!"

The room got eerily quiet as the main proctor entered in the room. "My name is Morino Ibiki and right now...your exams begin!" Ibiki announced, he got out a thick stack of papers. "We're having a written test."

XxxxxXxxx

"A written test?!" Naruto started to panic. "I thought it was gonna be an all out battle, I didn't know we had a written test! Wait..." He looked over to Sakura. _'Sakura-chan's really smart!' _Naruto grinned. _'Perfect! I'll sit by Sakura-chan then I'll copy and then I'll pass!'_

"With assigned seats." Ibiki added.

_'Damn!'_

After settling down everyone, and placing them in their correct seats Ibiki began handing out the stack of papers. "To pass the written test you must answer all ten questions within the half hour time limit. No asking questions and most importantly, no cheating, If we catch you cheating five times your entire team will be disqualified. If any one of your members fail the test, your entire team will be disqualified as well." Ibiki explained.

Sakura looked over to Naruto, he looked super stressed. _'Naruto...of course, great.' _

Itachi stared at his test, but what he was more intrigued by were the rules. _'Interesting_ _rules.'_

Ibiki held out a timer. "Begin."

_'These questions I could all answer easily, but that wouldn't be the point, would it? ' _ Itachi eye's shifted to the person next to him, he seemed to be answering all the questions flawlessly. _'I see, very interesting.' _Using his sharigan, he copied the movements of his pencil and got the answers down.

OoO

_'THESE QUESTIONS ARE CRAZY HARD!' _Naruto stared at all the questions in frustration.

OoO

Sakura on the other hand used her brains to answer the questions. _'An average genin would have trouble with these questions...heh! Good thing I have in-average intelligence!'_

As the clock ticked, more and more people left after they got caught five times. Naruto studied his paper, sweat dropped down from his nose and splashed onto the paper. _'Because of me...I'll fail the entire team!'_

"Hey, Naruto." A small voice whispered.

Naruto looked beside him to see a flustered Hinata was handing him her very own paper in order to cheat. He looked at it for a second then started to reach over to grab it. He stopped. "No Hinata, you could get disqualified!"

"I-I don't...care."

"...No. I can't allow you to do that." He smiled. "It's fine, I got it!"

Naruto flipped to the back of his paper. It was blank _'I'll do the tenth question, then. Hopefully it won't be hard...' _

Ibiki cleared his throat and stood up, their time was up. "As you know, there are only nine questions, I'll tell you the tenth question, before you do however, I do have a warning. If you get this question wrong you'll be disqualified and can never, ever be able to participate in the Chūnin exams, again."

"Leave now if you wish, no one will shame you."

Many people who doubted themselves left, leaving only a handful of shinobi.

Sakura looked back towards Naruto, there was no way they could risk that._ '...Naruto won't drop out will he, no he has that stupid look again.' _

_'I guess I'll have to drop out, then we'll all have that chance again.'_

Itachi slightly glanced at Sakura who was beginning to stand up._ '...Is this the faith she has in our team?' _However, Itachi did nothing to stop her.

Naruto sprung straight up and smacked his palm on the desk. "No! I will never ever back down and go back on my word! Even if I fail because that's my ninja way!" He loudly proclaimed, inspiring others to stay as well.

Sakura sat back down and sighed._ '...Why me?'_

"Sit down." Ibiki ordered. "Now...you tenth question is..." The room was tense.

"Well everyone, you've all passed!"

Mostly, everyone looked at each other in confusion. "Wait what?!" Naruto asked.

"Not only have you learned shinobi information from this test, but the whole point of this was to cheat, it was to use your gathering intelligence skills. Especially on the tenth question, you had no idea what was coming, but you made a decision. That's what being a chūnin is about. For a ninja's willingness to face the unknown." Ibiki explained.

"Congratu-"

Early as usual, a woman randomly appeared in the room. "Time to start the second phase!"

"Anko," Ibiki calmly said. "you're too early, again."

Anko rubbed the back of her head and sheepishly grinned. "Yeesh...wrong timing."

"So like I said," Ibiki continued. "congratulations everyone for passing the first phase of the Chūnin exams. Your next phase will now begin."

_Entrance to the Forest of death_

Naruto read the sign to the gate entrance. _'Forest of death?' _"Ha! Yeah right! I'm not scared of some stupid forest of death!" Naruto loudly proclaimed.

Out of nowhere, a kunai zipped past Naruto and cut him on the cheek. "Ow! What'd you do that for?!"

"For being so cheeky."

A person giving off a creepy vibe appeared right behind Anko. She rolled out her snake-like tongue and dropped Anko's kunai into her hand. "Oh why thank you!"

Itachi stared at the person. _'Interesting.'_

"Ahem! This is the second phase of the Chūnin exams, where genin are to collect two scrolls, once collected you'll head down to the building in the center of the forest." Anko explained, she got out the two scrolls, one heaven, one earth.

Anko passed out scrolls to everyone. "Do not open these or else."

_'We have the heaven scrolls, so we need the earth scroll don't we?'_ Along with the scrolls, there was a form each team had to sign. Sakura looked at the form. "_Konoha_ _not_ _responsible for death of any shinobi..._"

Itachi took a look at everyone who had earth scrolls. _'This is our competition, hm?' _

The gates swung open after all the forms were filled out. "You may now enter!" Anko announced.

Without hesitation, the genin blew through the opened gates and entered the dark creepy forest. As everyone scattered, Team seven landed near a big tree. Itachi flipped out a kunai and marked the tree, he turned to everyone. "I bet they're setting up traps already, we have to be cautious from now on."

OoO

Team eight was by a large tree as well, waiting for Kiba to finish setting up the trap. He jumped down. "Ok...done!" Kiba said as a net fell onto the ground. "Everyone, hide!"

A group of unsuspecting ninjas fell for their trap. One shinobi peeled a leech off his hand. "Why is thi-" Suddenly, a barrage of leeches came flying at him, with all the weight, the branch they were standing off snapped making them all fall down into a pile of disgusting, slimy leeches. "AHHHHHHHHH!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

Kiba jumped from out of the bushes. "Heh-I guess you outsiders don't know about Konoha's _special_ leeches. When first sense life forms they attack in groups, five minutes give or take...let me put this bluntly, you'll all be dead." He explained.

OoO

Not even five minutes after entering the forest an ear-piercing scream bombed though the forest. "Was that a...human scream?" Sakura asked.

Itachi crossed his arms. "Let's go ahead, there isn't any time to-"

_'...!'_ Naruto rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly grinned. "Uh...hey guys..."

Itachi and Sakura looked towards Naruto.

"Just wait like five seconds! I gotta take a big leak." Naruto turned around and unzipped his fly.

"NOT IN FRONT OF A LADY!" Sakura yelled as she whammed Naruto in the head. "DO THAT IN THE BUSHES!"

"Alright! Alright!" Naruto muttered, he rubbed his head and disappeared in the bushes.

Sakura and Itachi sighed and waited for Naruto while he wasted time. "Hey guys!" Naruto yelled once he finally came back, rather quickly. "Man, I pissed so much! He, he, I even got to write my entir-"

Before he even got to finish, Itachi punched Naruto in the face, sending him flying into a nearby tree. "Why did-" He covered his mouth as blood dripped from the crevices of his fingers.

"Itachi-kun! I know Naruto can be really annoying, but you can't kill him!" Sakura yelled. "He's our teammate!"

"He is not our teammate," Itachi walked over to Naruto and threw him over to Sakura, he picked him up by his spiky blonde hair showing his bloody face. "Look closer, Sakura. The cut that Anko gave him is no longer there. This guy is an enemy, he could've tried to kill us."

Itachi picked up his beaten up body and threw it.

Sakura gazed at Itachi in horror. _'I never knew he could be so...ruthless.'_

"I'm not...giving up j-just yet!" Ama-ninja released the jutsu and charged after Itachi while his back was still turned.

As the Ama-ninja moved in closer, without even turning around, Itachi raised his heel and jabbed into the guy's stomach. "FUCK-" Blood shot from his mouth and splattered onto Itachi's leg. "-YOU."

Itachi grabbed a kunai knife and threw it somewhere.

"Finally." Naruto said as a kunai knife dropped near him.

The Ama-nin staggered up, he adjusted his mask. "I told you, it's-"

Itachi placed his foot on the Ama-nin's head, forcing him back on the ground. "I advise you to retreat, otherwise, I'll just kill you right here."

"Itachi-kun..." Sakura cried. "You wouldn't really kill him, right?"

Itachi stared at his hands, stained with blood. "..."

Seeing this as an opportunity, the Ama-nin retreated so he could be alive to fight another day.

A kunai stuck in the ground between Sakura and Itachi. "Oi! The hero's back!" Naruto yelled as he came flying down.

Naruto smiled. "Heh, miss me?"

Sakura pumped her fist. "No way! It was actually quiet when you were gone!"

XxxxxXxxx

_-Area by a pond-_

"If we get separated again and another imposter shows up, we'll need a password, If and only if they get the password wrong, then assume they're the enemy and attack them." Itachi explained.

"What's the password?" Sakura asked.

"Listen carefully, I'll only say this once, when asked 'what is the password' answer this..."

In the surrounding pond a particular woman from Ota wearing a conical hat was under the water. Meanwhile, in a close by tree, a man with an orange swirled masked appeared.

_'...looks like we have company...' _"This is a quote from a friend I once had; the day I die won't be when I perish from this world, it will be the day my dreams are forgotten."

Naruto nodded. _'Yeah, I can remember that...I think.'_

"...And I when I do perish from this world one day, I don't ever want you to forget my dream. You are the only one who is...precious to me and the only one who can carry out that dream." Itachi cited.

"Got it!" Sakura quickly stated.

"...What?! I can't remember that!" Naruto said.

"How dumb are you? I've already memorized it."

OoO

Up in the trees again the man wearing the mask, felt the presence of another powerful chakra. _'Good, I'll let him weaken Itachi.'_

A figure beside him slowly popped out of the ground beside him._ "This will be interesting, right?"_

OoO

_'Smart...' _The other person in the pond thought himself. _'I wonder where the boy got those words from?'_

Itachi and Sakura started to get up.

"We don't...this isn't the password, is it?" Naruto asked.

"...So, you show yourself?" Itachi suddenly said.

"What the hell are you talki-" Another cut on the opposite side of Naruto's cheek appeared. "What the..."

A gust of air swirled through the area, creating a cyclone of dust particles. "Everyone, run."

"Itachi, what?"

"Just run."

*BAM*

Everyone scattered as the dust cleared up, three Ota ninjas finally showed themselves, one of them being the guy in the pond. Itachi peaked from behind the bushes._ '...it's him...the person who gave Anko the kunai.'_

The lead person, the one from the pond, flicked her tongue. "Have a little fun over there, I'll personally take care of them."

Itachi heard footsteps approach, it was only Sakura. "Itachi-kun!" Sakura whispered, finally finding him.

"What is the password?" Itachi asked, holding out a kunai knife.

"The day I die won't be when I perish from this world, it will be the day my dreams are forgotten...And I when I do perish from this world one day, I don't ever want you to forget my dream. You are the only one who is...precious to me and the only one who can carry out that dream."

Itachi kept his kunai but he nodded in approval, signifying she was safe.

"Hey you guys ok?" Naruto asked, running up to them.

"Stop. What is the password?"

"The day I die won't be when I perish from this world, it will be the day my dreams are forgotten...And I when I do perish from this world one day, I don't ever want you to forget my dream. You are the only one who is...precious to me and the only one who can carry out that dream."

Sakura breathed a sigh of a relief. "Huh, that was close."

Itachi used his kunai and stuck it through Naruto's stomach, blood spilled from his insides and showered onto the ground, dying the grass crimson. "Damn you!" Naruto yelled, jumping away.

"Itachi-kun! Naruto told us the code word, why?!"

"It's not that hard, Sakura."

Naruto creepily smiled and revealed his true form, the Oto-nin from the pond. "How did you know I was an imposter?"

"I already knew you were hiding in the pond, so I made the password something hard to remember for Naruto. He can't remember a...quote." Itachi explained.

"I see you're even smarter than your brother, we'll have an interesting fight." She hissed.

XxxxxXxxx

_Sasuke..._

_-Iwagakure-_

As Deidara was making more art, several shadows covered him. "You, Deidara, join the Akatsuki." Sasuke demanded.

Deidara turned around, a clay spider in hand. "And why should I, hm?"

"Because I said so."

Kisame stepped up. "How about we make a deal, if Sasuke beats you in battle, then you'll join the Akatsuki."

"And what if I win, hm?"

Sasuke turned his Mangeyko sharigan powers on. "I'll make sure, that won't happen."

XxxxxXxxx

After the latest explosion, Naruto found himself under a fallen tree. "...ugh...oww." A loud noise startled him. "...what the...?"

Naruto managed to get himself out from under the tree, he looked around. "...! Where's Sakura-chan and that asshole, Itachi?"

A huge shadow loomed over Naruto, he turned around. "What no way! It's huge!" Surprisingly, it was a gigantic snake. The snake dug its tail into the ground, then sprouted back up to where Naruto was standing. Swiftly, it wrapped its tail around Naruto. Ina flash, the snake opened it's mouth and threw Naruto in.

"...it ate me...DAMMIT LET ME OUT!" Naruto yelled, stuck in the slimy, gross throat.

_Itachi and Sakura..._

"Another Naruto imposter?" She got into fighting stance. _'Then that means...where is Naruto?!' _

"You want my scroll don't you?" The Oto-nin hissed, he rolled out his tongue, revealing his earth scroll. "Since you have a heaven scroll, after all."

He swallowed the scroll. "You'll just have to kill me and dig it out of my intestines."

"Now let's begin our battle. With our lives at stake." He added, with one finger, he pulled down the skin under his eye.

Much to their horror, Itachi and Sakura saw gruesome images of death and blood. '_This has to be genjutsu.' _Itachi released the genjutsu and he picked up Sakura from the incoming kunai.

Itachi placed Sakura down, she was still paralyzed, he bent down and shook her. _'If we don't run right now, we're going to die if and I can't move fast enough while carrying Sakura. If I use shadow clones, I'll waste my chakra, I have to save every bit of it for this...person.'_

"You can move, Itachi-kun?" The Oto-nin asked.

"I've been through hell and back. Do you honestly think something as petty as that would paralyze me?" He shot back.

_'This boy...a genjutsu as powerful as that...he broke it.'_ The Oto-nin merely flickered his tongue. "Perhaps."

"Sakura. You have to wake up!"

"..."

Itachi got out a kunai knife. "Please forgive me, Sakura."

_Naruto..._

The snake was fast asleep. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Naruto yelled.

_'Shit...at this rate I'll be melted and turned to crap if I don't get out soon...' _Naruto thought back to the time at Tazuna's where he and Itachi had an eating contest. '_That's it! I'll make him barf!' _"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto yelled.

With so many shadow clones inside the snake, it exploded, splattering blood and guts all over the forest. As Naruto staggered out of the best, h wiped some snake blood off his face. "Since I'm gonna be Hokage I can't be turned to some snake shit!"

"Now it's time to find Sakura-chan and that weasel, Itachi!"

_Itachi and Sakura..._

Sakura awoke, somehow she was out of the genjutsu. She looked down and saw a kunai knife through her leg.

"AAHHH-" Itachi clamped his hand over her mouth. "Sakura, you have to run...run as fast as you can and never look back."

Sakura worriedly looked at Itachi, she had never seen his face so flushed out of emotion.

Itachi sighed, he let go of Sakura, pulled the kunai knife out of her leg and threw it at the white snake. It kept on going as if it was nothing. Since that didn't kill it, Itachi weaved several hand signs and blew a gigantic blast of fire at the snake then ran over and kicked the snake off the branch making it fall all the way down onto the cold ground.

Much to their surprise, the same Oto-nin burst out of the snake, and began slithering up the tree.

_'Is she immortal or something?'_ Acting quickly, Itachi created several clones and all of them jumped away.

Itachi ran down the bark of the tree the Oto-nin was slithering up, he began weaving several signs to a new jutsu. "Water Release: Black rain Technique!" He yelled.

Black Mist spewed out of Itachi's mouth and formed into a black cloud. The cloud hovered over the Oto-nin and it rained over him, covering him a thick black oil. "You think oil will stop me?!" He yelled, rushing towards Itachi even faster.

Itachi stopped running and jumped back. "Now!"

A barrage of fire came straight towards the Oto-nin, easily lighting him on fire. "Fire release: Exploding flame shot!" He sent the flame shot towards him and jumped back even farther.

*BAM*

A large area of the forest exploded, sending trees flying all over the place.

OoO

As Naruto was running, he saw trees falling down from the sky. _'What the hell?!' _Natuto jumped onto the falling trees and escalated into the sky. "Ah! Itachi, Sakura, there you guys are!"

He leaped off the tree and landed next to Itachi. "Sorry, weasel but I don't know the password!"

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Release!" _'So after all of that, he still lives?' _

Itachi picked Naruto up and dodged as the Oto-nin flung himself towards them, his skin peeled off from all the damage Itachi gave it, revealing his true form.

Itachi recognized him immediately. _'This guy, he's the legendary sanin; Orochimaru. What is he doing here?'_

"Good for you Naruto-kun you defeated the snake." Orochimaru congratulated.

_'Man, this guy is really fucking creepy, and did he just call me -kun? What a major pedo.' _

Itachi sighed. "...Will you leave us if we give you the scroll?" He took out the scroll much to Naruto's surprise. "Because you can have it."

"Very smart, boy."

Itachi flung the scroll towards him.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU ITACHI?!" Naruto yelled, he jumped off the tree limb and caught it in mid-air.

_'I have no respect for you anymore.' _Naruto's expression darkened, he jumped back to the tree limb and punched Itachi in the face. "

"Why the hell would you try to give up our scroll?"

Itachi took out another scroll while the scroll in Naruto's hand turned back into a kunai knife. "It _was_ our chance of escape."

"...Escape?! Either way it would've never worked! 'Cause I never back down from a fight!"

"I guess you're right, after all I forgot to factor how much of a fool you are, it was my mistake."

"Don't forget who your opponent is while you two are bickering." Orochimaru lifted his sleeve showing summoning mark tattooed on his pale arm. He bit his finger and wiped the blood on his forearm.

"Oh yeah! Can't forget about you!" Naruto yelled as he jumped towards Orochimaru.

Before Naruto could get to Orochimaru, it was already too late. "Summoning jutsu!" A giant purple snake appeared from under his feet.

The snake lunged at Naruto, he smacked his tail on his stomach and sent him flying into a tree. Too dazed to support himself, Naruto started falling down.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed

Itachi glanced at Naruto. _'I don't think I have to help him, he's about to go into Kyuubi mode.'_

"Go ahead. You can eat him." Orochimaru approved and the snake went for Naruto.

Just in time, Naruto's eyes slit as an orange fox cloak surrounded him, it was on. He used his claws and dug them into the tree. Once the snake neared him, he took off. "GO TO HELL!"

Orochimaru was shocked, this kid was special indeed. "That's...it couldn't be..."_ 'How interesting, I might not kill you after all.' _

Just as Orochimaru was about to release his hold, Itachi appeared in front of Orochimaru and kicked him in the gut. He quickly grabbed Naruto and set him by the tree trunk.

"Just run away, I'll try to-"

Naruto's head was still down. "No! I won't let you do this by yourself all the time!"

Orochimaru jumped down onto his snake. "Itachi-kun, it's your turn to have fun with my snake!"

Hungry, the snake sped towards them.

Naruto raised his head. "WE ARE A TEAM AND WE FIGHT TOGETHER!"

"Itachi-kun!" Sakura yelled as the snake sped towards him.

The snake was almost on them, Naruto pushed Itachi out of his way and jumped in front of it. He dug his heels in the ground and managed to barely stop the snake.

"If you can't fight, then you'll just have to get out of the way."

* * *

A/N: **Day five of my re-edits, as always, if you are reading this on June 15th, 2015, wait a day or two or three before the next chapter. Thanks for everything.**

**Old news: **Long update yeah I'm sorry. Next update won't be. And I'm guessing you're starting to see some changes are you? I would think so.

Extra info! I also completely changed the fact that Itachi isn't as scared and paranoid as Sasuke. Why? Well because I thought that was out of character. Originally I planned for Itachi to just run with the scroll, but then I said, that's stupid and rash. Something Naruto would do.


	6. Chapter 6: I will protect you, always

**Recap:** First phase ends in a victory for Team 7, while the second phase is still ongoing in the Forest of death. We see new jutsu and new abilities from Itachi and Naruto. Sakura really does nothing and Orochimaru makes his debut.

* * *

Chapter 6: I will protect you, always

Just out of the village, a group of chūnin was looking at the destroyed remains of Buddha statues, next to it were three faceless bodies. "This is...a ninjutsu?" The chūnin asked.

"...why don't they have...faces?!"

"Just...just report this to Anko-san."

_Anko..._

Anko was sitting on top of a wall eating dango drinking juice. "Ah, nothing like eating dango and having juice."

_'Alright, I guess I'll head down to the tower.' _Anko stretched her legs. "The fast ones need only about 24 hours." After finishing her dango snack, she precisely threw sticks at a nearby post, creating the leaf symbol.

A chūnin wearing glasses appeared before, he kneeled down. "We have a problem, Anko-san!"

"What is it?"

"They're bodies...three bodies..."

"What? Are they dead?"

"...Just look at them for yourself, they're very...weird-looking."

OoO

Anko followed him to the Buddah shrine. "After close examination, it turns out they are all shinobi who come from the hidden grass." One of the chūnin reported. "But their faces are gone, blank."

Anko bent down and studied the faces herself. _'..! It's his jutsu...' _"Give me the pictures of their faces, NOW!"

The chūnin gave her a stack of the grass-nin faces, she flipped through them until she recognized a face. _'The one gave me the kunai knife, it must be...' _"Go! Report this to hokage-sama! Send in some ANBU captains to the Forest of death, go NOW, NOW, NOW!"

Quickly, the chūnin disappeared, whatever got Anko this worked up must of been bad.

_Team 7..._

Itachi remembered him saying those same words back at their second mission. "Naruto..."

The fox cloak once again wrapped around Naruto's body. "ITACHI!"

A long tongue came down and snatched Naruto up. "He-he, so the fox brat is still alive after all of that?" Orochimaru hissed, he weaved a hand sign.

Flames appeared at his fingertips. "I'm guessing when your emotions are uncontrollable, the power of the nine tails over flows, nice."

Orochimaru lifted his shirt. "And the seal is visible." He slammed his fingertips into Naruto's stomach.

"It's been 12 years since the seal and now their chakras are beginning to fuse. Minato's work isn't it?"

Orochimaru let Naruto out of his grasp. "NARUTO!" Itachi yelled, he took off from the tree and caught Naruto in mid-air, landing on a tree limb.

Itachi awakened his sharigan, and set Naruto down.

"Oh Itachi-kun, you want to fight me? Alright! You're going down just like your brother." he stated.

Itachi reached into his pack and got out a fūma shuriken with a string-attached kunai knife. "I don't deserved to be compared to my brother." Itachi stuck the kunai right behind him. He threw his fūma and it swiveled behind the tree Orochimaru was on.

"Multi-shadow clone technique!" A group of Itachi, all with kunai in hand, disappeared into the forest.

_'What're you planning, Itachi?'_

Itachi grabbed the kunai lodged behind him and threw it to one of his clones who was passing by. The clone caught the kunai and flung it into a far off tree behind him.

Another kunai knife came flying towards Itachi, he grabbed it mid-air. _'My jutsu's almost complete.'_

Orochimaru ran for Itachi, but befote he could reach him, Itachi jumped onto his head and threw his kunai in another tree.

Landing on another tree limb, Itachi swiftly moved behind it, he clenched the string connected to the fūma shuriken. Once the fūma shuriken unraveled from the tree, it shot straight towards Orochimaru.

_'What is this?' _Easily, Orochimaru dodged the fūma in mid-air making it lodge into the tree behind him.

Itachi jumped over and grabbed Naruto, with one hand, he made a hand signal. "Now! Release!"

A ring of fire circled around Orochimaru, Itachi set Naruto down and opened up his hands. "Wind release: Godly wind from the mountains." A vortex of wind blasted through Itachi's palms creating a gigantic inferno around Orochimaru.

"YEAH GO ITACHI!" Sakura cheered, not too far from them.

"To be able to use sharigan so well at this young age. You are the one." Since his body was far too damaged, Orochimaru cracked open his mouth and another Orochimaru came out, scaring the hell out of Sakura. "I WANT YOU, ITACHI!"

OoO

_'...I have to act fast...'_

OoO

"That was really fun Itachi-kun, but I think you dropped this." Orochimaru held up their heaven scroll.

Itachi was shocked. _'How was he able to get that?' _

"My name is Orochimaru. Pass the exams if you want to see me again." With one fellow swoop, Orochimaru burned their heaven scroll. "Of course there will be trials."

"What the hell?! We don't ever want to see your face ever again!" Sakura yelled.

"Too bad. Itachi will be seeing me a lot from now on, won't he?" Orochimaru weaved a single hand sign.

Orochimaru's neck extended and launched for Itachi, his mouth hanging wide open. Before he could bite him, a hand grabbed his head.

"Will you allow me to prepare him first?"

"Not you!" Orochimaru yelled.

"He'll be back and then he'll be yours for the taking." The masked guy touched Itachi's shoulders and together, they disappeared. "ITACHI-KUN!" Sakura yelled, right before her eyes, he was gone.

OoO

Itachi landed in a mysterious laboratory, just barely he could see the shelves were filled with glasses upon glasses of sharigan eyes. "..."

A dark figure approached Itachi. "My name is...Madara." With those lasting words, he left the room.

_'...why do I recognize his chakra? I know I felt it somewhere before...'_

Madara came back with a jar in his hands. "Your elder brother, Sasuke, requested I give these to you."

"..."

"These eyes once belonged to Shisu Uchiha, to my knowledge, you knew him once before, am I correct?"

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

*knock-knock*

"Alright, I'm getting it." Sasuke stood up from previously reading a book, he opened the door.

"Oh...it's you." Sasuke groaned. "What do you want, Shisu?"

An Uchiha with messy hair, smiled. "I want to see your brother." Shisu moved his head to see if Itachi was there.

Sasuke moved slightly to the left to block Shisu's view. "My brother, again? What the hell do you want him for?"

Shisu held up a summoning scroll. "I want to teach him summoning jutsu!"

"I don't want my brother to learn from a blockhead, in fact, I bet Itachi would rather learn from m-"

Hearing Shisu was here, Itachi ran past Sasuke in excitement. "Shisu-san!"

"What was that?" Shisu picked up Itachi and held him on his shoulders. "I promise, we'll be back before noon, Sasuke-_Kisama_." In an instant, Shisu disappeared.

Sasuke clenched his fist. "SHISUUUUUU!"

XxxxxXxxx

"Perhaps."

Madara approached Itachi. "Shisu always wanted you to obtain his eyes, and now you can _finally_ have them."

_Forest of death..._

Orochimaru reeled his neck back. _'Then I will just come back for you, later.' _With that, he left.

Sakura broke down into tears, she truly felt, alone. "Itachi-kun..."

Answering her prayers, the mysterious man came back, he threw Itachi to her feet and looked directly at Sakura. "I wonder, how much will you love this man when he kills everyone close to you."

"Wh-what're you talking about?!"

"You'll seem soon, because one day, Itachi will kill everyone in your pathetic village." With that, the mysterious man disappeared.

Sakura grabbed Itachi and hugged him to death, she thought nothing of the man's words. "ITACHI-KUN!"

"...sa-"

"You have no idea...how much...I've missed you."

"-kura..."

Itachi pushed Sakura off, his entire body felt like complete hell. The sharigan he now had, the greater powers he possessed, it was all too much for his body to handle. He grabbed his eyes as blood started pouring down.

"Itachi-kun!" Sakura squeezed his hand tightly, she looked down and saw, blood dripping onto her hand. "...! I...Ita...Naruto..." The only thing she could do was sob.

"It...it's going...to be ok..." Itachi murmured, she cried even harder.

Itachi clenched the bark of the tree as more blood poured out of his eyes. "I'm...sorry...all of this is my fault, I should've been...stronger for you. I should've...hated _him_ more."

OoO

Anko, on the other hand, had finally found Orochimaru. "Have you come to kill the hokage?" She struggled to ask.

"No, not...yet. I've come to give this kid the curse mark. However...I failed, but I will keep on trying until I give him his curse mark."

"You must really like that kid, don't you?"

Orochimaru wiped his tongue around his face. "With his genius mind and that beautiful face, I love him."

"...That boy must be..."

Orochimaru stood up to leave "Just don't finish the exams right _prematurely_."

"Or the cause of Konoha's destruction will be certain." He finally vanished, leaving Anko to her own devices.

" ..."

_Rock Lee's team..._

Neji, Tenten, and Lee were resting in a tree. "In less than an hour, the sun should be up, since we've gathered our supplies let's attack as planned." Neji stated.

They all jumped down from the tree.

He dropped his kunai on the ground. "We meet back in 30 minutes."

"Got it!" Tenten affirmed.

"Roger that!" Rock Lee dittoed.

"Let's move!"

XxxxxXxxx

Sakura felt Itachi's forehead, not much of a fever, but he was still in pain. As well as Naruto. _'Itachi is still breathing heavy, but thanks to this rag his fever has calmed down and the blood has stopped as well.'_

She stood up._ 'I must protect them both!'_

Three sound ninja; Dosu Kinuta, Zaku Abumi, and Kin Tsuchi all watched Sakura. "As Orochimaru-sama ordered, we'll attack our target; Uchiha Itachi at daybreak, then we'll bring him to master." Dosu explained.

"And the others, kill them if needed?" Zaku asked.

"Of course."

_The next day..._

_-morning-_

Sakura poured cold water on the rag, then squeezed it out. She placed the rag on Itachi's forehead. All night she was taking care of them. "...I can't fall asleep, not now." She sighed, the sun was up already. _'Great.'_

*skitter-skitter*

Sakura shakily held out her kunai knife and slowly turned around. _'Thank goodness! It was just a stupid squirrel.' _"Yeesh squirrel, don't scare me like that."

The squirrel continued to scamper towards Sakura. "Oh no!" Sakura gasped, she threw the kunai at the squirrel making it run off. "Too close."

OoO

"Ah, so she noticed the explosive tag, did she?" Zaku asked.

"No...that's not it." Dosu said.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see, soon."

Ooo

Rock Lee was jumping off from tree trunk to tree trunk, that was until he landed on a branch with leaves. With the sudden jolt, the leaves started to fall off. _'Yes! If I can catch all 20 leaves, then Sakura-chan will like me, if I miss just one of them, then it will remain unrequited love and she'll call me bushy brows.'_

Lee jumped off the branch, full with passion. "YAAAAA!"

_Random narrator: Lee has a bad habit of making up his own training rules that are usually really hard on him._

Lee swiftly caught all nineteen leaves. _'One more!'_ Lee jumped towards the last falling leaf and cupped open his hands. Not looking where he was going, Lee ran into a tree and fell down. The leaf was almost at the ground.

He got back up and ran towards the leaf. "Come on! Come on! So close!"

Out of nowhere, a squirrel landed on the ground, however, on its back held an explosive tag._ '...oh no!...I have to save the squirrel!'_

Lee rushed to save the squirrel as the leaf fell onto the ground.

OoO

Neji was walking around, when he suddenly heard a rustling in the bushes. "Come out!" He demanded.

_'This is so...troublesome.' _

_'I didn't think the hide-behind-a-bush trick would make work so I guess I'll have to try a different approach.' _Team 10 jumped out of the bushes, Ino flipped her long, pale-blonde hair and winked at Neji. "Wow! What luck! I didn't think we would meet last year's top rookie Hyuga Neji-sama!"

"Can I get an autograph?!" Shikamaru excitedly added.

Neji loosened his stance and sighed. "It's only you guys..."

_'Now it's time for some extra charm!'_ Ino took out her ponytail holder, showing off more of her luscious hair. She blew Neji a kiss and giggled. "It would be nice to know you a bit _better_." She said in her most sexiest voice possible.

Neji turned around and dismissed Ino's bait.

"WHAT?! MY SEXY CHARM DIDN'T WORK?!"

Shikamaru's hands were stuffed inside his pockets. _'Well I'm sure not surprised.' _

Ino pumped out a fist. "DAMMIT, I'M BEYOND PISSED!"

Neji stopped, without even turning around, he could tell what gesture she was making. "Hey wait, since your pumping out your fist, does that mean you want to fight?"

"O-of course not!" Ino stammered. _'Jeez, is he like an owl or something?'_

Shikamaru cocked his head in confusion. "Wait, you're not gonna take our scroll?"

"Taking a scroll from you scum, that's below me." Neji scoffed. "Now leave before I change my mind."

"Whatever you say!" As fast as they came out they went back in the bushes.

Neji shook his head in disappointment. "What a bunch of cowards."

"Alright then! Let's find someone weaker than us!" Ino whispered.

_Team 7..._

As Sakura was tending more of Naruto's wounds, she heard a branch snap. "Up all night were you?" A creepy voice asked, Sakura swiveled her head around. "...!"

"Wake Itachi-kun up now, we want to fight him." Dosu punched his fist into his palm. "And beat the crap out of him!"

Sakura took out her kunai knife. "There is no way in hell I'll let you do that!" She recognized their forehead protectors, they were definitely working for _him_. "...And I know who your leader is!"

"TELL ME WHAT THEY DID TO ITACHI-KUN!"

Zaku creaked his neck. "You know _that_ much do you? Well we can't let you go no, can we?" He smiled. "I'll kill you and I'll catch this little weasel-kun of yours." Just as he was about to approach the pink-haired genin, Dosu stopped him. "Wait a second." He motioned to the dis-colored dirt on a rock. "You're very bad at this aren't you? A stone with different color dirt. It's a trap."

"..."

"It's useless, unless it goes unnoticed."

"Pft...stupid. I'm guessing that's why she threw the knife at the squirrel." Zaku scoffed. "Let's get her!"

As the team jumped up Sakura smirked, she used her kunai knife and cut off a certain string. _'Looks like my trap worked!' _Once the string got cut, a giant log swung towards them. Acting indifferently, Dosu placed his hand on the log and blasted straight through it.

Sakura finally started to panic. "What?!"

"Do you think that would actually stop us? You have no talent, no jutsu and no skills. People like you have to work harder than us and now you will die for that." Dosu harshly stated.

Just before his hand could reach her, a leg swung out and blocked the attack. "LEAF SPINNING WIND!" Rock Lee yelled, kicking him in the face, Lee jumped back and got into a stance. "Even those with skill should work hard as well."

Dosu and his clan jumped away. "Who are you?!"

Lee flashed a smile. "The handsome green devil of the leaf; ROCK LEE!"

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked.

"Because you're in danger and I must protect you." Lee set down a squirrel and let it run off. _'It was actually because of this squirrel I found Sakura, thanks.'_

Sakura was down on her knees, bowing before Lee. "Th-thank you so much for saving me!"

"Heh, there's no need to thank me, I will protect you with my life, always."

"..."

Seeing as Sakura was clearly amazed, he began squealing. "Yes! I'm awesome! Guy sensei I'm awessssome!"

Dosu took an earth scroll and rolled it out. "Oh what a shame, company." He looked over to Zaku who was exhilarated. "Zaku, you get Itachi-kun."

"I'll take care of these fools, no problem!"

_'...I don't think Sakura-san is in any condition to fight...'_ Lee thought to himself.

Zaku licked his lips. "Bushy brow has some pretty advanced taijutsu, but getting Itachi-kisama will have to be good enough."

Dasu went head on towards his opponent , Lee dug his hands into the ground and pulled out a tree root. "I know your jutsu has tricks, I won't just dodge them. I've seen your attacks before."

"Pft..." Zaku scoffed.

Sakura gawked at Lee. "He's so ...strong."

_'Three vs one I'm at a disadvantage, my only choice is to crush them all one by one.'_

_Team 10..._

"Arrgh! We can't find any weak guys!" Ino yelled.

"As I said there are no guys weaker than us, well except Naruto's team...well minus Itachi..." Shikamaru pointed out.

"What's the possibility that one of the boys will give in to my sexy charm?"

"Zero."

Choji laid on the ground and stared at an opening where he could see the deep blue sky. _'...we're going nowhere real fast.' _

"ZERO?!" Ino yelled.

"Naruto barely likes you and Itachi I hear isn't even attracted to girls."

"You don't know what Itachi-kun likes!"

"And neither do you." Shikamaru rolled onto his side. "I mean, every girl loves Itachi and all but I don't even get why. Besides, to me, Itachi is a major creep. He rarely shows emotion and looks at everyone like he wants to kill them or something."

"GAHHH!" Ino shook Shikamaru back and forth. Take that back! Just how stupid are you?!"

"Yeesh I'm sorry, I'm sorry." '_Just say one bad thing about Itachi and she's immediately pissed.'_

Choji turned his head and groaned. _'Why can't they st-' _Choji saw what was going on with Team seven. "Hey look, at this!"

Ino stopped shaking Shikamaru and turned her head. "HUH?!"

_Neji and Tenten..._

"Lee is _really_ late." Tenten said, she paced back and forth. "Lee should've been here by now."

"That's strange when it comes to time, he's usually accurate." Neji conspired. "Do you think he ran into the enemy?"

"Maybe...! No...you don't think..."

"No," Neji shook his head. "Of course not, let's just find Lee ourselves."

"Of course."

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

*BAM!*

Lee's leg and shot through the tree and split it in half. "Yeah I did it!" Lee exclaimed.

Guy walked up to him. "Calm down, Lee." He looked towards Tenten and Neji, both tired and worn-out. _'So is Lee the only one who mastered this technique?'_

Lee started to dance around, still overjoyed. "I did it! I did it!"

"Hey Lee..." Guy started to say but Lee did not listen.

"I-"

Guy punched Lee in the face as punishment for not paying attention. "Listen up Lee. This is important."

"What is it?" Lee asked, crying in a comical way.

"This technique, 'lotus', is from now on a forbidden technique."

"...! What, why?"

"This technique puts too much strain on your muscle fibers, it's a suicidal technique basically." Guy explained. "A normal human only uses about 20% of its muscle power. Using 100% will destroy your muscles. Your brain normally holds down this power, but with this technique, it uses chakra to release the brain's limitation, increasing the muscle power and speed of taijutsu to its maximum potential."

"This is a very dangerous technique that puts the body to its limits. However, under only one condition may you use it."

"What condition is that?" Lee asked.

XxxxxXxxx

_'Guy sensei, I'm going to use this without limitations...'_ Lee started to unwrap his bandages. _'Because right now, I must protect a precious one!'_

Lee jumped over the roots and kicked Dosu in the jaw, before Dosu could react, Lee vanished right before him. _'What the...where is he?!'_

In an instant, a barrage of jabs and punches hit Dosu all over his body sending him flying in the air. "Time for the finish." Lee said, his bandages wrapped around Dosu and he grabbed onto him.

"Dosu is going to die like that!" Zaku panicked. "He's in trouble now!"

"The final move!" Lee yelled, he started to spin them around. "INITIAL LOTUS!"

As Lee quickly jumped away, Zaku ran under Dosu just before he hit the ground. Lee landed back on the tree limb, his eyes widened. "No! He couldn't have!"

Fortunately for Dosu, Zaku created a cushion of material right before he hit the ground, stopping what could've potentially been the end of his life.

_ 'Ugh...that much damage even with Zaku...what a technique.' _Dosu spun around and held out his arm. "MY TURN!"

Lee's body was painfully strained. _'Dammit! My body is...this is bad!' _

Dosu jumped over to where Lee was standing and attempted to strike him, but in the nick of time, he somehow managed to dodge. "Your moves are very fast," Dosu admitted. "but ours is at the speed of sound! Hardwork, no matter how much, can't beat those with talent!"

Lee got onto his knees and started throwing up, his vision, his mind, everything was just messed up.

"LEE-SAN!" Sakura screamed.

Lee clamped his ear while blood spilled out. _My right ear!'_

Dosu pushed back his sleeve and revealed an arm guard with holes in them. "You can't just dodge my attacks."

Sakura could only watch, she was absolutely terrified, as Lee started to shake. _'What did he...'_

Dosu cracked his neck. "He-he-he! It's sound. You can dodge a fist, but you can't dodge sound."

"Huh?" Rock Lee asked.

"Do you know what sound is?"

"...Vibration." Sakura slowly answered.

"Hearing sound basically means your ear drums are catching the vibrations of air. However your eardrums will break at the sound of 150 MHz or more." Dosu explained. "Deeper in your ear lies the inner ear membrane, damage that, you lose your balance."

"He-he. Looks like you won't be able to move your body for quite some time."

"And," Zaku added. "Your dumbass taijutsu won't work with us...well I must admit you were doing decent enough to force me to use my jutsu."

"You see I can control supersonic sound waves and air pressure, that power can even destroy rock. Blasting the air into the earth, creating a cushion, peh, you underestimate me."

"There's a fine line between our jutsu and your dumb technique."

_'Dammit...' _

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

"The one and only condition when you're allowed to use this technique," Guy said. "is to protect a precious one."

"Protect a precious one?"

XxxxxXxxx

Dosu took out his arm and headed for Sakura. "Your turn!" Dosu yelled.

"CRAP!" Lee yelled, he jumped over, despite the pain, and tried to protect Sakura.

"What! Impossible!"

"Lee-san!" Sakura yelled.

Lee swung back his leg and spun it around, creating a tornado. "Leaf torna-!"

_'Shit.' _He stopped his technique due to the sheer pain he felt of his ear, Dosu grabbed Lee's leg and slammed it on the ground. "I knew the jutsu was affecting you!" Dosu hissed.

"And here I thought I was wrong!" Dosu brought back his arm.

Before the attack hit Lee, an arm blocked his attack. "I can't allow you to hurt him any longer."

"...!"

Lee and Sakura were speechless, it was Itachi of all people who stood up to protect them.

_'Itachi?!'_

"ITA-ITACHI-KUN?!" Sakura yelled. "Your condition! You're going to die!"

"Oh, this just got entertaining!" A blast came from Dosu's arm guard. "Small sounds are amplified to its full power with these. Like a speaker you could say!"

"But the sound doesn't just follow my arm," The sound hit Itachi making him violently vibrate. "my chakra can control it to always hit where I want it to!"

Despite having an eardrum ruptured, Itachi's face never once flickered from the pain. "...I promise, I will _kill_ you..."

"...!"

Itachi collapsed before he could make another move.

"ITACHI-KUN!"

_'Oh that was close.' _Dosu's hand wrapped around his arm guard. "Now let's end this!"

"NO I WON'T LET YOU!" Sakura got out some shurikens.

_Team 10..._

Everyone peered at the fight behind the bush, it was getting way too serious. "Geez, let's go! They're in big trouble!" Choji whispered, sweat pouring down his face.

"Yeah, from the looks of it, Itachi and Naruto are just...dead..." Shikamaru pointed out, pushing down the bushes to get a slight clearer view.

Shikamaru looked back towards Ino who was in a panic. "What will we do?" He asked. "Lee is beaten up and Sakura is alone out there."

"What will I do?" Ino asked herself.

"Really, Sakura is in serious trouble," Shikamaru sighed. "I thought you guys used to be best friends."

"..."

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

Ino and Sakura sat on a bench together, enjoying the bitter afternoon. "...Hey Sakura, why are you so down?" Ino asked, noticing Sakura's mood.

"Ino-chan..." Sakura started to say.

Ino smiled. "Hm?"

"You like Itachi-kun too don't you?"

"..."

Sakura stood up, her back turned. "Then, from now on Ino, we are rivals."

XxxxxXxxx

_'Why am I remembering that time?'_ "...!"

"INO! What do we do now?" Shikamaru repeated.

"What can we do?! If we jump out now, we'll just die!"

_Sakura..._

"No! I can..." Sakura threw her shuriken. "...I can fight too!"

Zaku shoved Dosu out of the way and used his air advantage to push the shuriken right back at Sakura.

_'The air pressure! Of course!' _Sakura used her arm to block the shuriken, before she could make another move, she felt a tug at her hair.

Sakura looked up to see, Kin, tightly grasping her beautiful pink hair. "Much more softer and silkier than mine." She spat out. "You know, instead of making your hair so pretty why don't you try some damn training?"

Dosu had enough of this. "Zaku, kill the blonde hair kid while he's still asleep and kill the Rock lee guy, after we kill both of them, we'll grab Itachi-kun and bring him to master."

"Nice!"

Sakura began struggling. _'No! I can't...I won't let them!'_

"Stop moving!" Kin barked.

"Sakura-chan..." Lee mumbled, still unable to move his body.

_'I thought maybe just this once, I could protect those I love, but I see that hasn't changed...after all the times they saved me, all I can do is sit here and watch as they kill them?'_

Zaku grinned. "Let's not waste time, are we ready?"

Sakura gritted her teeth and held out a kunai knife. "I won't just sit here..."

"That's pretty stupid, you can't kill me like that." Kin scoffed.

"AND WATCH YOU KILL THEM!"

Much to Kin's surprise, Sakura slashed her hair, cutting off nearly all of that beautiful pink hair.

_'__I always thought I was a proud ninja, I've claimed to be in love Itachi and I would always scold Naruto as if I thought I was better than him. But the truth is, all I did was watched from behind...wishing to catch up to them.'_

_'They've always fought to protect me, Lee-san you told me you would protect me with your life and now...I can return the favor.'_

Sakura stood up, this time, her back facing Naruto and Itachi._ '__Now get a good look at my back, watch me...protect all of you!'_

"Kin! Kill her now!" Zaku yelled, but it was too late, Sakura had already jumped back. She weaved several hand signs and ran towards Kin.

Kin rammed Sakura only for her to turn into a log. _'...substitution jutsu I see.' _Zaku shifted his eyes to the right, Sakura was going for him this time. _'What could she be doing with such academy level jutsu?'_

Sakura threw a kunai knife at Zaku. "Bah! Useless!" _'Air pressure 100% go! Sound waves 0%' _He held out his hands, reveling a machine like part in his palm.

Sakura weaved the same hand sign.

"Air slicing blast!" Zaku yelled as a blast of air burst out.

The air blast hit Sakura, but yet again, she turned into another log. This time from above, Sakura came down, Zaku threw a kunai knife at her and dismissed it. He looked back and studied the area for another one. Surprisingly, it wasn't a clone that was above him. Acting quick, Sakura drove down her kunai nto Zaku's arm. "GAHHH!"

When that barely worked, Sakura clamped down on his arm.

"Dammit! Let go of me!"

Ino watched Sakura from the side-line, her mind made._ 'Sakura...'_

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

_-After school-_

Sakura was crying by a tree, the kids were extra mean this time. She heard footsteps approach her. "...!" It was only Ino.

Ino walked up to her and sat down. "So everyone's making fun of that forehead of yours, huh?"

*sniff* "Who are you?"

"Yamanaka Ino, you?"

"Haruno..." *sniff* "Sakura..."

Ino poked Sakura's forehead "So this is the big forehead?" She lifted Sakura's hair. "I see you're trying to hide it with your hair, you shouldn't do that Sakura, you look like a ghost.

She nodded. "...ok..."

"Sakura, is it? Come here tomorrow and I'll have a nice gift for you!"

_The next day...afternoon..._

Sakura waited at the same spot and as promised, Ino came by with something behind her back. "Here's your gift!" She bent down and tied on a bright red ribbon, showing Sakura's beautiful face. "See Sakura, you look much cuter now."

"And you can keep that ribbon." She added.

Sakura stood up. "Thank you but..."

"But what?"

Sakura pointed to her forehead.

"So what? You have a cute face show it off, confidently."

_'Ino-chan...'_

"Hey you know what," Ino took Sakura's hand. "Let me show you some of my friends!"

OoO

Sakura and Ino finally were at the park where a bunch of girls was playing, one of the girls stopped when she saw Sakura. "Oh, who's the girl?"

"This is Sakura." Ino nudged Sakura. "Come on Sakura, say hi."

"Um...hi..." Sakura shyly squeaked.

**"...Sakura." Ino still watched as Sakura clamped onto Zaku, no matter what, she did not stop.**

_One afternoon..._

Sakura ran up to Ino who was with a group of girls, finally she had grown some confidence. "Hey guys! Guess what! I have a crush on someone!"

"Oh let me guess..." One of the girls teased. "It's Itachi-kun am I right?"

"...Huh? How did you know?"

Ino was shocked by what she heard, but she continued to smile as if it was nothing.

The girl continued. "Itachi-kun's the most popular guy in class, every girl has a crush on him."

**Ino watched and watched, her feelings started to swarm. "Sakura..."**

"Ino-chan!" Sakura exclaimed, walking up to her. "I heard Itachi-kun likes girls with long hair, so I'm growing my hair out!"

"Oh really?" Ino replied. "

**"Sakura..." _'you like Itachi-kun as well don't you?'_**

OoO

"We're rivals from now on..."

OoO

_Years later..._

Ino was walking down a path, it was a windy day and the leaves were blowing by.

"Looks like your hair's gotten pretty long, Ino."

Ino swung her head back, a vein popped out. "What do you want now?!" Ino yelled.

"Guess what?!" Sakura stuck her tongue out. "I'm on the same team as Itachi-kun and now we can get closer!"

"...yeah so what?!"

The wind blew both their long hair. Sakura's expression drastically darkened. "Never again will I lose to you."

"Then..." Ino clenched her fist. "I will never lose to you either!"

XxxxxXxxx

Tears swelled in Ino's eye and splashed onto the ground. "Sakura..."

OoO

Finally, Zaku managed to throw Sakura off, but she got right back up. "I won't...no, I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!"

Zaku held his palm out. "Damn brat! Let's see how much you'll never give up when you're fucking dead!" He yelled, ready to blast. "READY! AIR SLICING BLAST!"

Just before it hit, Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru jumped in to protect her against the blast.

"Sakura..."

"Ino!"

Sakura stared at Ino's back.

Ino managed to look back at Sakura, she smirked. "Like I said before Sakura, I will never lose to you!"

_Itachi's dream..._

Itachi was standing in a field, somewhere. _'Why does this place seems so...familiar?' _It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and birds were soaring across the clear, blue sky.

"Itachi..." a voice called out.

A young Itachi came running towards the voice. Itachi stared at himself in horror. _'...could it be? That day long ago?'_

Young Itachi smiled brightly as Shisu Uchiha appeared before him, Shisu kneeled down to his level. "Itachi...remember these words always, for this is your last lesson from me..."

"The day I die won't be when I perish from this world, it will be the day my dreams are forgotten...And I when I do perish from this world one day, I don't ever want you to forget my dream. You are the only one who is...precious to me and the only one who can carry out that dream."

"Wh-why are you crying, Shisu?"

Shisu bent down to Itachi's level and tightly hugged him. "Because I will miss you the _most_." He stood up and ruffled Itachi's short hair. "I hope I never forget, that sweet smile of yours, Itachi."

* * *

A/N: **Day 6 of my re-edits, again, if you're reading this on July 16th, 2015, wait a day or two before reading the next chapter. **

**Old news:** Just to be clear Itachi posses both of Shisu's eyes and Danzo has none. Just wanted to be clear on that;)

There's going to be a big surprise next chapter, very big. Not that big really...


	7. Chapter 7: The power of the Uchiha

**Recap:** Itachi doesn't get the curse mark, surprisingly, but Orochimaru's men are still chasing him down. One thing Itachi did get was a better sharigan! Yay! and Shisu came! We all love Shisu! And I still suck at recaps.

**Guest:** I'm working on that I don't like how Sakura is at the moment, change can be a little tough though.

* * *

Chapter 7: The power of the Uchiha

XxxxxXxxx

"Hey, brother!"

"Yeah?"

Sasuke walked over to Itachi. "What is this?"

Itachi pointed to a section on an old scroll, he took a closer look at it. "...It's the great Uchiha weapon; Susanoo. Only Uchiha powerful enough can obtain such prowess."

"How can I get that ?"

"The only way to obtain such powers is to..."

_"Hate." _

XxxxxXxxx

Sakura struggled to find her words. "But...why are you...protecting me?"

"I won't let you be the only one who gets to look good in front of Itachi-kun!" Ino said.

"More insects, interesting." Dosu said in a creepy voice.

"Arghh...what're you two thinking? This is too rash!" Choji yelled, he tried to run away, but Shikamaru grasped tightly onto his scarf. "Shikamaru let go of my scarf! I'm not a dog!"

"Forget it! You can't run away and leave Ino to fend for herself, idiot!"

Ino smirked. "I'm sorry to get you all wrapped up in this, but we are a team after all."

"Yeah I know."

Zaku crossed his arms. "If you're so scared, then just run away, fatty." He encouraged.

Choji stopped struggling and glared at Zaku. "What did you say, I don't think I could hear you."

"Huh? What the hell?!"

"That word is a taboo word for Choji," Shikamaru explained. "If I were you I wouldn't say it twice or-"

"Oh if that's the case, then I said you can run way, FATASS!"

"DAMMIT!" Choji yelled, several veins popping out. "I AM NOT A FATASS! I'M JUST CHUBBY!" He pumped his fist in the air. "YEAH, I'M CHUBBY! LET'S DO THIS LEAF VS. SOUND!"

Shikamaru let go of his scarf. _'This is gonna be so...troublesome.'_

"Here we go." Zaku eye's glazed over to Sakura. _'What a pain...we were supposed to bring Itachi-kun to Oro-sama before the end of the exams, but it looks like that'll have to run over...'_

Sakura got onto her feet and cautiously walked towards Naruto and Itachi. "Sakura..." She turned her head around.

"Ino..."

"Take of them."

Sakura smiled. "I will!"

"Alright here we go! INO'S TEAM LET'S DO IT!" Ino yelled. "YEAH! INO-SHIKA-CHO formation!"

Choji did several hand seals. "Multi-size technique!" His body suddenly expanded to a giant ball.

_*This_ _jutsu basically expands your body, or different/singular parts of your body as well*_

"Next, human bullet tank!" Choji squeezed in his head, feet, and hands, giving him the appearance of a boulder.

Choji rolled towards Zaku, he smashed into the ground, making dirt particles fly everywhere. Zaku held out his hand and prepared to do another air slicing blast. Just before their jutsu could collide, Dosu started running over to Zaku.

Shikamaru weaved a hand sign. "Shadow imitation technique!"

_ *This jutsu stops people...well that's what it does. And it controls the person. There is however a time limit.*_

_'My body! That kid did something...' _"Dammit, I can't move!" Dosu's shadow was successfully trapped, disallowing him to move.

Just before Choji could hit Zaku, he dodged just in time. Dosu, on the other hand, was still trapped in Shikamaru's jutsu. Kin looked back to see that Dosu, for some reason, was placing his hands on his head. "Dosu, what're you doing?!" Kin yelled.

"He's controlling me somehow?!"

"Ino!" Shikamaru yelled. "Getting the girl would be nice!"

Ino nodded and made a hand seal, she looked back to Shikamaru. "Take care of my body!"

"Right!"

"Mind body switch technique!" Ino's body collapsed making her vulnerable.

_*This jutsu allows you to briefly control someone and their actions, the downsides, however, are dire.*_

Choji stopped spinning and returned back to his original form. "...ugh...so dizzy..."

"If you guys move an inch, I'll kill Kin!" Ino threatened, a kunai at Kin's neck. "Just give up your scroll and leave, then I'll let her go."

"Ino, watch out!" Sakura yelled.

Zaku smirked and directed his hand at Kin. "Like I give a damn!" Without remorse, Zaku blasted Kin into a tree. Worriedly, Shikamaru looked back to see blood dripping from the side of Ino's mouth. "Ino!"

_'These guys, they're hurting their own comrade. What creeps.' _Ino thought to herself barely getting up on her two feet.

"Idiots, we don't care about the damn scrolls or completing these exams _safely_." Zaku explained.

"We care only to capture Itachi-kun." Dosu added.

_'Damn! This jutsu reached its limit...!' _Shikamaru could no longer hold the shadow and Dosu was released.

"So," Dosu examined, finally free to control his body. "This jutsu only last around...five minutes?" He turned to Kin. "And that's a possession jutsu isn't it, but I see it has a drawback."

Dosu rolled out his sleeve and pointed it at Kin. "Killing Kin will also kill the girl, won't it?Too bad, Kin should've been more useful."

"CUT IT OUT!"

Dosu turned around, there he saw two new shinobi; Neji along with Tenten. "You lowlife sound ninjas are despicable, trying to bully these weak ninjas and then declaring a victory over them?" Neji said. "You've made a mistake."

"Lee..." Tenten started to say, seeing his condition.

_'That must be Lee's team!'_ Sakura thought to herself.

Neji continued. "Since you knocked out one of our own teammates, we'll just return the favor!" With that, Neji awakened his special eye prowess and got into a fighting stance.

"...It's like seeing through his eyes!" Dosu said, shocked as well.

"Take on more step, I will not hesitate to fight you..." Neji sensed a strong amount of chakra. _'Wait...What is this chakra...?'_

"Stop acting so high mighty and fight already!" Dosu challenged.

Neji loosened his stance. "That won't be necessary."

OoO

"You're opponent is now me."

Sakura swung her head around, Itachi was slowly getting up. "Itachi-kun! You're awake, again!"

Ino sensed something off about Itachi. "Wait...Itachi-kun?"

Once Itachi was finally up, a giant blood-orange skeleton coiled around him. Slowly, he opened up his eyes, revealing the Mangeykō sharigan. Looking back, he saw the horrible state Sakura was in. "Sakura, who hurt you?" Itachi asked.

"Itachi-kun! I...I..."

Itachi's expression darkened. "Answer my question, Sakura."

"What is this power?" Dasu wondered aloud. "No wonder Orochimaru-sama wants him, this is..."

Zaku cracked his neck and smirked. "We did."

Sakura watched in complete terror as Itachi's outer skeleton enlarged to monstrous heights. "Itachi-kun your body..."

"It's incomplete."

No one said anything, except for Shikamaru. "Ino, Choji let's go this is bad!" Shikamaru grabbed Ino as she released the jutsu and they hid behind a bush,

Dosu stood there, petrified. _'Is this the kid's power...he's...he's better than master himself.'_

Zaku, despite everything, held both of his hands out, ready for a full attack. "Don't be scared Dosu, this guy is just a weakling!" Zaku yelled, he shifted himself towards Itachi.

"Zaku no! You Idiot!"

"ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE, ITA-"

Itachi pulled back into a stance, as if he was ready to release an arrow. "There isn't anytime for you to be talking."

Before Zaku could release his attack, a giant fiery arrow pierced straight through his chest. "Dam-" Zaku fell down onto his knees as he vomited up his own blood.

"Zaku!"

Itachi's Susanoo hands shot straight towards Zaku and grabbed him. Slowly, Itachi began slowly clenching his fist, making the grasp on Zaku tighter and tighter.

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

Shisu crouched down, he held out several kunai knives "Are you ready for another technique?" He stuck one in the dirt and threw another kunai into a tree. "I've tied a wire string connecting the two kunai together, with mastery of this technique, you ca-"

"Shisu-san." Itachi suddenly said.

"Yes, what is it?"

"...Can you teach me how to...hate? If I have hatred, then I can grow more useful."

"Hate? Who taught you that?"

"My brother."

_'...of course, Sasuke is such a horrible brother.' _"Itachi, how can you protect everyone if you have hatred? The only way to grow strong is to..."

_"Love."_

XxxxxXxxx

His Susanoo started to disperse as pieces of bone started falling on the ground.

"Itachi-kun..." Sakura tightly hugged Itachi just before he could kill Zaku.

"...!" Itachi's arms fell to his side._ '...is it really true Shisu-san?'_

"Sakura..."

Itachi's orignal eyes returned, making the entire Susanoo disappear all at once. Sakura clung onto Itachi even tighter, her voice grew softer as she leaned in closer. "...Do you know how much it _hurts_ me to see you like...this?"

_'...Can we all grow strong if we just...loved?' _

Kin ran over to Dosu as he picked up Zaku. Not saying another word, the three sound shinobi ran away, but, before they got too far away, Zaku managed to take one last look at Itachi.

_'Why did you miss my vital spot...Itachi? After all of this...you choose to spare me.'_

OoO

"Thank-you, Sakura."

"...are you...hurt?"

"It never once mattered to me if I got hurt or not, but is everyone el-"

"But..." Sakura repeated. "Are _you_ hurt?"

Itachi turned back and stared at Sakura's eyes, they were so, sincere. "...I'm...fine."

"That's all I ever wanted to hear..."

Shikamaru was already out of the bushes since things calmed down, he looked over to Naruto. "Well, we're pretty much ok, for the most part, how's Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

Itachi and Sakura walked over to Naruto. "...what's his condition, Sakura?"

"He-he! Sakura-chan, I'll be your hero any day!" Naruto mumbled, still asleep.

Sakura groaned. "He's fine."

The rest of Team ten walked over to Naruto. "What now? Kick him or something?" Shikamaru said.

"Allow me." Choji offered.

_Naruto's dream..._

"Naruto-kun, save me!"

Naruto stood in front of Sakura as Orochimaru ran over to them. "Never fear Sakura-chan, I got your back!"

Itachi's weasel ears twitched. "Hey! That's my line, dosu!"

"Not any more! I'm the hero, alright!"

Itachi walked over to Orochimaru. "That's fine, I'll just leave the village, dosu." Itachi stuck his tongue out. "How do you like that?!"

Naruto's position loosened and he dropped his kunai. "Wait you're...leaving the...villag-"

*GAAHHH*

OoO

A large bump had swollen on Naruto's head, he looked up and saw Choji with a club in his hand. *vein pops* "HEYYYY! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT F-" Naruto looked around. "Wait...where's the snake dude?"

Naruto got into a crouching position. "Everyone hide! Go, go, go!"

_'Great, the idiot is awake...'_ Ino thought as she lugged Lee around.

Naruto felt a poke on his bump. "AHHHHHH!" Naruto quickly turned his head around, only to see Itachi poking his bump. "Wh-what're you doing?!"

"Hm, perhaps Choji hit you too hard..."

"You're the one and only Naruto, that's for sure." Shikamaru sighed, hands in his pockets.

"Huh?"

"All you do is give me a headache."

Naruto quickly stood up, seeing as they're was no danger and all. "Sakura-chan!"

"..." Itachi desolated from the group and started to pack up everyone's belongings, they were leaving soon enough.

Naruto ran up to Sakura. "Sakura-chan! Your hair!"

Sakura brushed through her hair. "Just a new style, just I to try something...new."

Itachi stood up._ 'I can only wonder...' _

"I prefer it longer," Sakura continued. "but in the forest ,it gets hard to manage..."

"Ah, I get it."

Naruto noticed Shikamaru and Choji were still here. "Oh...yeah, why are you guys here anyways?"

"It would be a drag to explain, so I'll leave it at that."

"...Actually...everyone came to save us." Sakura said, she glanced at Ino who nodded in agreement.

Ino smiled. _'Still hiding her feelings, huh.'_

Tenten jumped down and headed to Ino and Lee. "Let me wake up Lee." Ino gave Lee to her and she shook the sense back into him. "Wake up Lee! Snap out of it!"

Lee's eyes eventually opened up, barely he could make out one of his fellow teammates; Tenten. "Uh...Tenten why are you...here?"

"We came to save you."

Lee looked around. "Where are the sound nin?"

"The Itachi guy he drove them off."

"Oh, I see..."

"Why did you break the plan and fight alone Lee, see now you're all beaten up." She scolded

"I know, but Sakura-San was in trouble."

Tenten sighed. "That was still idiotic you know."

"Yeah, I know."

Naruto ran up to Tenten and Lee. "Bushy bro-!"

Sakura punched Naruto in the face. "Don't be so rude to Lee-san!" She yelled.

"Huh?...The hell happened while I was asleep?" Naruto mumbled.

"He's so clueless." Shikamaru bluntly stated.

"Yeah, I don't think he would ever be the main character of anything." Choji added.

Sakura smiled at Lee. "Thank you Lee-san, I think I've gotten a little stronger because of you."

A waterfall of tears rolled down Lee's face as he grinned. "You're welcome Sakura-san!" He looked over to Itachi who was as always, distant from everyone. "The Uchiha clan is better than I thought, you drove off the sound nin and you have my thanks. Me on the other hand, well, I got my butt kicked."

"Is that so? Hm, you must of lasted a long time while I was out so you've earned my respect, Lee-kun."

"Ha, ha! That's awesome!" Lee turned to Sakura. "The leaf lotus blooms twice Sakura-san, next we meet I'll be stronger. That is my promise!"

"Yeah you will!" Sakura agreed.

"Hey Sakura!" Ino called out. "Let me straighten your hair."

"Well if you want to!"

While Ino did Sakura's hair, Neji, who was still up in the trees, closely watched Itachi. _'Uchiha Itachi; with powers never before seen in the leaf. He'll be quite the opponent.'_

_Anko..._

_-Day 1: Ten hours ago-_

"..." Anko clenched her neck just as the ANBU hand finally arrived.

The ANBU with the bird mask was shocked. "The curse mark! How is that possible?!"

"Orochimaru..." She slowly answered.

"...we'll have to take you the Hokage then..."

Anko whipped her head. "No, take me to the tower!"

"Are you crazy? The Martial law states that if Orochimaru were to ever come back, then the exams are immediately over."

"I'll explain it to you later at the tower, bring the Hokage too."

OoO

Anko lounged on the an uncomfortable couch, she still felt the throbbing pain of the curse mark. "I know things are bad," She admitted. "but, no matter what, we can't stop the exams!"

"Why?" An ANBU asked.

"Because-"

Right as she was Anko to explain, the door swung wide open and chūnin burst through the doorway. "Anko-san! We have important news! It's urgent!" The guy yelled.

"Ugh...what is it now?"

He held out a tape. "Take a look for yourself."

"A video?"

Anko slid the tape in and everyone watched the TV for any sign of conundrum, as soon as a group of genin passed through, the chūnin pointed at the time slot. "Look at the time!"

"The recording's an hour and 37 minutes."

Anko was shocked. "The three shinobi from the sand village passed the second test. Unbelievable, in 97 minutes."

"No one has ever passed the test so quickly." He explained. "These guys aren't at a genin level." He concluded. "At least not to destroy the record of four hours."

"That's not just it." Anko said. "From here to the entrance that's 10 km and they faced through the violent animals, harsh terrain, competitors, all as if that was nothing." *6 miles*

The video stayed paused at Gaara. "Especially the red-haired kid." Anko added.

"Hm what's so special about him?"

"It's really noticeable. Look at his body."

"...Oh I see now."

Anko looked out of a window. "Not a single scratch or a noticeable speck of dirt on his clothes." _'For any chūnin going from the entrance to here, spotless no-less, is impossible...'_

_Team 8..._

_-Day 1: 50 minutes after start-_

"YAHOO! This is the survival life!" Kiba yelled as the team jumped from tree limb to tree limb. "Heh, right Akamaru?"

"Arf!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

"What luck! Those dumbasses we caught had the earth scroll and at this rate, we'll be the first ones!"

"Let's calm down and keep quiet." Shino muttered. "We don't want the enemy to hear us." Shino continued. "Even the smallest insects, in order to-"

"Gah! I know that!" Kiba cut in. "Why do you keep on talking about bugs, yeesh it's annoying! You aren't the boss you know!"

"...but um Shino-kun does make a good point." Hinata piped up.

"Ok-ok!"

Hinata stared at the ground below them._ 'I hope Naruto-kun is...ok.'_

Kiba's nose caught a waft of something. "Wait! Hold it!"

"Since everyone said we should be so cautious about our enemy, then I want you, Hinata, to look one km that way." Kiba ordered. *1km=abt 1,000 yards*

"Right!" Hinata looked in the direction given. _'Byakugan!'_ With her eye prowess, Hinata could see a shinobi with red hair carrying a giant gourd. "It looks like there's a fight going on." She said.

Shino pressed his ears against the tree limb they were on. "Six I would say."

"Heh, let's go check it out." Kiba said.

"What?! That's not a good choice."

"Huh?!"

"Examiner said to bring one heaven, one earth scroll. She never said we couldn't bring more, besides it'll eliminate the competition." Kiba explained.

"B-but..." Hinata started to stammer.

"Relax. We'll just check it out and if it looks bad we won't fight. Now let's move!"

OoO

Once Team eight finally got there, they hid behind a group of bushes and peered at the fight, it was clearly bad, so bad that Akamaru had begun shaking. Kiba brushed through Akamaru's fur. _'Damn...those ninja have Akamaru that spooked?' _

Three rain-nin stood before the sand siblings, Gaara's emotionless eyes looked at the rain-nin as if he wanted to rip out their organs and bathe in their blood remains.

"You're going to die!" The leader rain-nin stated.

"Enough with this talk, old man." Gaara said. "Let's fight."

_'We don't know if their scroll was taken or which scroll it is.' _Kankurō, Gaara's older brother, stepped in. "Without some information Gaara, fighting them is pointless."

"It doesn't matter. Those who have met my eyes all must die."

Kankurō gritted his teeth in frustration. _'Hardheaded little brother, I knew we shouldn't have done this.'_

One of the rain-nin threw several umbrellas up into the sky. "Raining needles technique!" He yelled, the umbrella as said, began raining needles.

"You can't escape from these needles, I control them with my chakra!"

Without moving an inch, the sand surrounded Gaara and protected him from the needles from all sides. "Is that it?"

Kankurō crossed his arms and smirked. _'Gaara's the wrong guy to pick a fight with, that's for sure.' _

"...!"

"That's all you have? If you're going to make it rain needles, then I'll make it rain _blood_." Gaara sinisterly hissed.

Kiba, Hinata, and Shino were all stunned. Kiba clenched his fist. _'Those needles at that speed should've been able to pierce through steel.' _

Gaara made a single hand sign. "Sand coffin!" The sand rushed towards their leader and slowly engulfed him. He picked up one of the umbrellas.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"I could just cover your mouth and suffocate you." Gaara suggested, he opened up his palms. "But that's too pitiful."

Gaara's fingers came closer and closer until it was a full fist. "Desert graveyard!" The sand, crushed the rain-nin making blood literally rain down all over the terrain. Gaara opened up the umbrella as blood rained down.

"He didn't suffer because I killed him instantly." His sand crawled back into the gourd. "When blood mixes with the sand it grants the user more power." He explained to the two remaining rain-nin.

The shorter rain-nin rolled them a heaven scroll. "P-please," He stuttered. "d-don't kill us. Here's our scroll."

The ground rumbled, and more of Gaara's sand wrapped around their bodies, eventually engulfing them. Gaara held out his hands and just like he did with their leader and started to slowly close his hands to make a fist. "Wait stop!" The ninja pleaded but alas.

Temari waved her hand. "See ya!"

Gaara squeezed his fist shut and even more blood rained down.

"Come on! Dammit we gotta go!" Kiba whispered.

A heaven scroll rolled to Kankurō's foot. "What luck," he picked up the scroll. "It's a heaven scroll."

"Good, we can head to the towe-."

"Shut up." Gaara hissed.

"Hm?"

"I want to kill _more_!"

"No, let's stop, Gaara."

"Coward!"

"Gaara I know you're fine and all, but we're not!" Kankurō argued. "We're set, any more scrolls are futile."

"Don't tell me what to do, you worthless piece of shit."

"Listen to your big brother for once!"

"I never thought of any of you as my siblings and if need be, I wouldn't hesitate to kill you."

Temari, Gaara's older sister, decided to step in. "Now, now.,Gaara. We shouldn't say hurtful things alright, listen to your big sis, okay?"

Gaara held out his hand, everyone panicked. Thankfully however, only a small sand cork appeared. "Fine."

OoO

"These guys," Kiba said. "...they're super dangerous."

"Weeee!" Akamaru squealed in agreement.

_Team 7..._

_-Current time-_

Team seven had found themselves at a waterfall with a surrounding rocky coast, their time for the second phase was limited.

"Shadow clone technique!" Naruto yelled as he jumped off into the water. Itachi was on the rocky ledge, with three kunai between his fingers, as Naruto flung the fish up, Itachi threw the kunai knife at them. Sticking them into a tree.

"Hey Itachi-kun, it's set, we just need a fire!" Sakura called out.

Itachi walked back to set on fire. "Fire release: Minimal fireball technique!" A small burst of fire spewed from Itachi's mouth and lit the pile of dry branches.

"Finally!" Naruto got out of the water and sat by the warm fire to dry off.

"This is the fourth afternoon we've been here..." Itachi started to say

"Yeah...?" Sakura said.

"So...let's see if we started at around 2:30 P.M., then that would leave us with only a little more than a day to get the remaining scroll and head to the tower." Itachi turned his head. "And we aren't that close to the tower."

"That means...many teams have already passed..."

_'And...that's the biggest one!' _Naruto on the other hand wasn't worried about that. "Come on fish, cook faster!"

Itachi took out an earth scroll they managed to find. "...This isn't good."

OoO

Team Shibire were still on the edges of the forest, only one scroll and no hope. "Not only have most of the teams passed by now, but it's already the fourth day." Minoji sighed.

Tanzō abruptly stood up. "It's almost noon," He began walking away. "I'll go get some food, you guys rest up."

"Yeah ok..." Shibire mumbled, he slumped on a tree. "Hey..."

Minoji turned his head. "Hm?"

"The heaven scrolls have white edges on them right and had the heaven character written on it, right?"

"I would think so, but I don't really remember, why?"

Shibire grinned.

"Hey...you aren't gonna..."

OoO

Everyone, except Sakura, was munching on their cooked fish, Sakura was worried. "There could be...no more heaven scrolls left..." She wondered out loud. "...So there's 78 entrants, 26 teams, and only 13 scrolls.

Itachi calculated the math. "Right, so the highest amount of teams that can pass are only 13." "But..." Itachi recalled. "Orochimaru burned the heaven scroll, rendering the earth scroll useless. It can only be a pair."

"Exactly. That means the amount of teams that can pass are now only 12."

"We also can't be sure though if all they're are other scrolls damaged, if only about 20% of the people are remaining during this test, then each time a scroll is destroyed, our chances are slimmer and slimmer."

"After parting ways with our leaf comrades, it took us two days to heal. We have to be more active. After today, it's our last day and our only chance."

Naruto watched Sakura and Itachi go back and forth. _'Man, smart people talk...I don't get any of it...'_

Itachi sighed as he slowly stood up. "Since we have time, I might as well get some water. And..." Itachi turned on his sharigan and glared at Naruto. "If you open that scroll, I'll _personally_ murder you."

Naruto's face drained of color, he squeaked his head. "O-ok!"

With that, Itachi disappeared with a water canteen.

_'...man, Itachi sure is scary...' _With the coast clear, Naruto leaned in and dumped the contents of his bag out. "Hey Sakura-chan,"

"What is it now?"

Naruto's face was dead serious. "I have plenty of scrolls, we just have to change one to look like a heaven scroll." He explained.

"They aren't stupid, Naruto." Sakura sighed. "Since we don't have a heaven scroll, how will we know what it looks like?"

"...maybe these things have like a password or something..."

Naruto thought up of something. "Yeah I bet that's it, these things probably have passwords to them and you have to read them the passwords in order to pass."

"So what! If we don't know what's on the inside, it's meaningless!" _'What a moron...looks like his serious face fooled me...'_

"And the only way to know is to...I'm gonna open this, maybe it'll give us a clue about the password for the heaven scroll. With your big brain I'm sure we can figure it out together!"

"Naruto, no! Itachi said he would..." Sakura's skin crawled. "_Personally_ murder you."

"Forget it, Sakura-chan, Itachi says a hella lot of things, besides, he's probably just trying to scare us."

"I guess you're right..."

"I'm always right!" Naruto delicately started to unravel the scroll. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

OoO

Tanzō heard a scream coming from his group and he ran back, much to his dismay, they were both knocked out, next to them was an opened scroll.

"Did they...yes, they opened the scroll."

OoO

Naruto was almost done unwrapping the scroll. "Almost th-"

"STOP!" A gloved hand tightly wrapped around the scroll.

"AHHHHHHHH! ITACHI, DONT'T KILL ME! I SWEAR IT WAS AN-"

"What're you talking about?" Itachi asked. Naruto slowly looked up, surprisingly Itachi was in front of him with a canteen full of water in hand.

"If you're not Itachi then..." Naruto looked behind him to see none other than Kabuto. "Don't you remember the rules?" He asked. "You cannot open up the scrolls!"

"That wasn't the best choice you guys made..." Itachi scolded. _'Perhaps using fear to control someone is useless.'_

"We're sorry." Both Sakura and Naruto apologized as their heads sunk lower.

"Shinobi who break the rules," Kabuto explained. "Are subdued to failing the exams. There's a hypnotism jutsu on the scrolls, if you opened it all the way, you would've been knocked out until the end of the exams."

"Kabuto is it, why are you out here alone?" Itachi asked.

"I'm not after your scroll Itachi."

"I know that, but does it means you're after the heaven scroll?"

"No I have both," Kabuto showed them his scrolls. "I just got separated with my teammates, but I'm heading towards the tower."

_'I know what you're expecting me to do, Kabuto, but attacking you straight on won't help me to get closer to you.' _"Thank you, Kabuto for helping us," He turned to the team. "Let's head to the tower, I'm sure we'll have a chance to get a heaven scroll."

"Wait," Kabuto cut off. "let me help your team, Itachi,"

_'You're trying to get information on me, aren't you? Then this will be the perfect chance for me to do the same.' _

Kabuto shifted his glasses. "Most people of your clan would've attacked me and tried to steal my scrolls by now, but not you. I want to help you on the right path."

"Then in that case, we accept your offer."

Naruto grinned. _'Man, this guy is super nice!' _

OoO

Team seven along with Kabuto jumped through the trees, night was approaching fast and the second test was ending soon.

"Everyone knows the tactic, right?" Itachi asked as they were closing in on the tower.

"Could ya' go over it again?" Naruto asked. "I already know it, I just...uh...wanna make sure you do!" He quickly added.

"Everyone who has both their scrolls will be heading towards the tower, right?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Well, we can ambush them from there, however,, other teams will be present as well and of course you can expect traps set up."

"Oh yeah! I've been itching for another fight! From now on, things are getting extra juicy!"

* * *

A/N: **Day 7 of my re-edits, if you're reading this on July 18th, as always, wait a damn day or two so I can update the chapters.**

**Old news: **Fast update? I know. I've had much free time lately.

So gradually you can tell the story is slightly shifting I didn't want it to be the same exact thing only you replace Sasuke with Itachi. This is going to change, especially the fact that the Itachi isn't subdued to the curse of hatred or isn't focused on revenge rather on his team. Next chapter. The fight sequence from now on is changed.


	8. Chapter 8: Strong and Strike

**Recap: **After almost losing the Chūnin exams, Kabuto helps Team 7 with finishing phase two of the exams. Questions are raised with the sand siblings true power and that special juiciness Naruto's been hoping for, might come true.

Oh, and sorry for long update, my computer broke...and then my stuff got deleted so I'm like screw this.

* * *

Chapter 8: Strong and Strike

Team seven continued through the forest, the tower was just ahead. "And," Itachi added. "We have to watch out for the people who'll steal others scrolls, even when they have both of them."

"Collectors." Kabuto suggested.

"However, I highly doubt the collectors will be a problem, such arrogant fools who think they're better than everyone else never win."

The team stopped at a tree trunk, the tower was finally in full view.

*twitch*

Naruto threw his kunai knife at the sudden sound and it punctured a giant, hideous centipede.

"Ew! That's so gross!" Sakura spat out in disgust.

Itachi moved in closer to fully examine the centipede._ '...I feel like there's something off.'_

Kabuto turned to Naruto. "We have to make safe precautions, so be quiet and stop making such loud noises." He scolded.

"Yeah, whatever."

After what felt like hours passed Itachi stopped for a minute, he noticed they were never getting any closer to the tower. He looked back on the tree they were on. "Do you see that?" Itachi asked.

"See wha- GAHHHH!" Naruto yelled, catching sight of that same centipede. "It's the centipede again!"

Sakura's face scrunched up. "We went past it already, right?"

"...the enemy is trying to tire us out. I fear we've been placed under a genjutsu."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "That's what I've been thinking, we should release the genjutsu."

Everyone immediately released the genjutsu and waited for the enemy to attack. "Heh! I've been waiting for something like this!" Naruto ecstatically yelled.

Kagari slowly emerged from the tree limb they were on. "You're trapped rats, now!" He hissed.

"You're the trapped one!" Naruto pulled out his fist and ran up to the clones. Much to his surprise, Naruto's fist went straight through Kagari's body like it was water.

Kagari's body split in half and doubled.

_'I see, they're mist clones, huh?'_ Itachi's eyes changed to level three sharigan, he rummaged through his weapon bag and got out several shruiken. He threw the shuriken at the clone, nonetheless, all it did was pass straight through his body and lodge into the tree behind him.

Kabuto analyzed Itachi's eyes. _'He already has the third level of sharigan?'_

"Ha, ha!" Another rain-nin rose from the tree. "Give us your scroll!" Mubi demanded.

"NEVER!" Naruto shouted.

The shuriken lodged in the tree exploded, destroying all the clones near them. The team jumped down into an open area between the trees. Sakura looked back and forth, no sign of them anywhere. "What're we gonna do, Itachi-kun?!"

"We'll have to wait." Itachi weaved several hand signs. "Shadow clone technique!"

A clone of Itachi popped up beside him.

"What?! That's my jutsu!" Naruto yelled.

Completely ignoring what Naruto had said, Itachi nodded to the clone and it jumped away. Unfortunately, just as it left, an army of rain-nin rose from the ground.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball technique!"

"Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Rather easily, the clones and fire release destroyed every last one of them, although, no matter how many times they destroyed them, the mist clones kept on coming and coming back, throwing barrages after barrages of kunai.

"Oh, this is endless!" Sakura sighed after dodging another round of kunai knives.

Naruto created several shadow clones. "Let's do this again, Itachi!"

He didn't move.

"Itachi, I said lets do it again!" He repeated.

"It's pointless to keep on doing the tactic over and over again, I won't continue."

"SO WHAT?! It's pointless to give up! We can't win if we don't fight!"

_'Finally, I can make a real attack.' _"...then we'll just have to fight differently."

"What?"

Itachi ran straight past Naruto, he looked back. "I leave everything to you, Naruto!" With that, he departed, leaving his team to fend for themselves.

"Itachi-kun!" Sakura yelled. _'How could he just...leave us like that?!'_

Kabuto clenched his fist. _'What're you doing?!'_

"Dammit! You can't leave at-" (-_"'I leave everything to you, Naruto!'"_) Naruto gritted his teeth. "Multi-Shadow clone technique!" Dozens of Naruto clones appeared before him. _'Hehe, looks like I get all the juicy parts after all !'_

The Naruto clones ruthlessly clashed into the rain clones, soon, one after another, Naruto punched the clones making them disappear bit by bit. "Yeah go Naruto!" Sakura cheered.

"Here we go!" Naruto ran down to the last one. "Never, ever mess with my friends!" As hard as he could, he punched the final clone making it disperse.

OoO

Oboro and his team watched from behind the scenes. "We'll just make more cl-"

"No you won't."

The team turned around and much to their horror, Itachi was standing right behind him. "Oh wait, ha! You must be another clone!"

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not."

OoO

After they got pushed off their tree, Team Oboro landed hard on the site where the fight was going on. Oboro looked around, Kabuto, Naruto, and Sakura were all lying cold on the ground, it looked like they had lost.

The team proudly stood up. "Heh, looks look our clones beat the crap outta them." They got out kunai knives and approached them. "Let's just finish the job."

"All of you are going to p-"

*BAM*

A large explosion swept through the terrain, Team Oboro flew back and crashed into a group of trees. Much to their surprise, Kabuto and Sakura changed into Naruto clones, Naruto along with the clones got up and they charged towards the team. "AND HERE'S THE FINALE!"

As Naruto and his clones beat the team up, Itachi came from behind and wrapped a piece of sturdy rope around them, tying them to the tree.

Oboro grunted. "How did you...do that?"

Naruto stood back and wiped his hands as the clones released. "After Itachi found you guys, I turned my clones into my comrades and made it looked like we were beat up. Before hand, Kabuto and Sakura set up a trap, if you were to approach us, you would've fallen for the bait." Naruto pulled down his lower eyelid and stuck his tongue out. "And you did! Nyahhhh!"

Sakura and Kabuto jumped out of the bushes, she was amazed of the plan that Naruto came up with, even she hadn't come up with such a strategy. _'Naruto...just how far have you gotten...?'_

"Basically, this was over before it even started! Dattebayo!"

"Oh wait," Naruto pointed to his leaf symbol. "You got the scroll, right Itachi?"

Itachi threw Naruto the heaven scroll.

"Hehehe!" He kissed the heaven scroll as soon as it fell into his hands. "This is our ticket outta here!"

Itachi smiled at Naruto. "That was excellent, Naruto, something I'd expect out of my _rival_."

"...!" Naruto's grin grew even wider. "You better believe it!"

XxxxxXxxx

Kabuto along with Team seven had finally made it to the tower with just enough time to spare. As Kabuto's other teammates arrived, he shifted his glasses. "Well then, it looks like this is where we part ways."

Sakura smiled at him. "You're the best, Kabuto!"

"Yeah! I hope I can't wait to fight ya in the third phase!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hm, that would be interesting."

Naruto and Sakura went inside the tower to turn in their scrolls, just he went in, Itachi stopped at the doorway. "Hey, Kabuto..."

Kabuto's teammates eyed Itachi suspiciously.

"Yes, Itachi?"

"The information you're giving to Orochimaru won't be enough. What I've shown isn't even the peak of my powers." Without another word, Itachi walked inside.

_'How did he figure that out?'_

OoO

Orochimaru waited in another room of the tower, Kabuto along with his teammates finally came in.

"My card?"

Kabuto slightly adjusted his glasses and handed Orochimaru the card. "It's incomplete, however."

"Hm?"

"Itachi was on to me the entire time, so he refused to show any of his real power, this is as much information as I could get on him."

Orochimaru studied the card. "I see, how interesting."

OoO

Team seven looked around the tower entrance, it was empty except for a giant poster hanging on the front wall. The poster contained several characters, with one peculiarly missing. "What the hell? Without heaven?" Naruto asked.

Itachi glanced at the poster. "Seems there's a missing word up there. I think it's time to use our scrolls."

"Right!"

Itachi and Naruto got out their scrolls; heaven and earth. At the same time they both opened their respective scrolls. "Naruto, Itachi, let go of the scroll!" Quickly, they both their scrolls on the floor and right before everyone's eyes, Iruka was summoned.

"Heh," Iruka looked up. "Long time no see, right?"

"...! Bah! Iruka-sensei...why the...why are you here?" Naruto asked in a baffled tone.

"At the end of the second test it's set up so we chūnin get to see the exam takers, and I was chosen to get to greet you." Iruka explained, he got out a stopwatch.

"Greet?" Sakura asked.

Iruka paused his stopwatch. "And just in time too. Well then, I'm proud to admit that all three of you passed the second test."

"Congratulations! Now, I would love to celebrate this occasion with some ramen, my treat, of course, but you still-" Naruto ran up and tackle hugged Iruka.

"WE DID IT!"

"Hey Naruto wait-"

"WE DID IT! WE DID IT! THIS IS SO AWESOME!"

Itachi watched Naruto jump up and down like crazy._ 'He has more energy than I ever will, but that is__ what I like the most about him.'_

"SHUT-UP ALREADY!" Sakura yelled.

*sweat drops* "Looks like you haven't changed a bit, Naruto." Iruka sighed.

Iruka held out one of the scrolls used for the exam. "As you know, the rules are to test your ability to complete missions. If you were too weak and broke said rules, the exam takers would've been knocked out until the test was over." Iruka explained.

_'So Kabuto was right, huh. I'm guessing he knows this from...experience.'_

"Bah! You would've what?!" Naruto yelled. "Jeez! That was close!"

"I know! Good thing Kabuto was there!" Sakura agreed. "Oh yeah, hey Iruka-sensei,"

"Hm?"

"What is the meaning of that word up there? There's a character missing and we really want to figure it out."

"Who cares? We passed!" Naruto cut off.

*vein pops* "NARUTO!"

Iruka continued. "Actually, that's why I'm here. Just read it. It's the motto of Hokage-sama."

"Motto?"

"That's right. In this paragraph, heaven refers to the human mind and Earth refers to the human body. If you lack heaven, then gain knowledge; prepare. For example, Naruto's weakness is his brain."

Naruto crossed his arms and put on a pout face, Sakura slightly giggled. "Jeez. Always someone tellin' me how dumb I am."

"And if you lack earth."

"Then run and train more. So if Sakura's weakness is in the field, then you have to keep on trying harder." Sakura sheepishly grinned while Naruto smirked in triumph.

"And if you have both heaven and earth, you can succeed in even the most dire of situations."

Itachi nodded. "And tell us, what is this trying to represent?"i

"Right, so the missing word is supposed to represent a chūnin." Iruka unraveled the scroll revealing the summoning jutsu. "If you put that in the missing blank, the last sentence is: _these rules will guide a person's extremes_."

"These five days of survival were merely the basics of what you need to become a chūnin. Chūnin are at the rank of a military captain and have the responsibility of guiding a team. Knowledge and stamina are all needed for that step-up."

"Keep this chūnin motto in mind for the next challenge."

Naruto saluted to Iruka. "Yes sir!"

"..."

"And for this last test, don't push yourselves too hard, everyone." Iruka turned to Naruto. "Especially you Naruto, in fact, I think the safest would be to just quit the Chū-"

"That ain't happening." Naruto pointed to his leaf forehead protector. "Once I received this leaf forehead protector it meant I was no longer an academy student, so that means you can't keep on worrying about me!" Naruto adjusted the forehead protector. "'Cause I can fight too ya' know!"

"..."

"Doesn't that mean, I'm grown up now?! I'm not a kid anymore...I'm a ninja!"

Iruka sighed. "You're right, Naruto. I'm...sorry." _'He really is...grown up.'_

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

_-five days prior-_

Iruka stood in Anko's office. He couldn't stand the thought of sending Naruto in for the Chūnin exams. "I'm telling you Anko, I know each and every one of their weaknesses and..." He placed his hands on her desk. "Their just not ready yet! I at least...I at least want to prepare them for the very worst!"

Anko sighed, she flung her dumpling stick into the trash. "...whatever. If you're _so_ passionate about this, then go ahead. It's not an extremely popular job like it used to be."

Iruka bowed. "Thank you!"

"But, I hope you know, those are Kakashi's kids. They're not just weaklings, _all_ of them can fend for themselves."

"..." (_"'__Stay out of this Iruka. They are no longer your students. They are __shinobi.'"_)

_'I guess maybe it's you, Kakashi-sensei, who knows what they're truly capable of.'_

XxxxxXxxx

_Tower..._

_-present time-_

Anko squeezed the portion of her neck where the curse mark was. "...ugh..." _'Damn, it still hurts like hell.' _

The Third Hokage blew out a puff of smoke. "It still hurts, doesn't it?"

"Nah, don't worry about it." Anko weakly reassured. "It's getting better."

Two chūnins; Hagane Kotetsu and his best friend Kamizuki Izumo stood beside Anko. "Now that you mention it, Orochimaru, isn't he one of the legendary leaf shinobi? And he's in the bingo book; one of the five shinobi ANBU can't even get close to." Kotetsu brought up.

"And of all times, now?" Izumo asked. "What the hell could he want with us?"

Anko remembered what Orochimaru said to her earlier. (_"'there's a child I want who carries the Uchiha blood...'"_) _'Yet Orochimaru said he never got Itachi...I wonder what stopped him...?'_

"It must be because of Itachi." The Third suddenly said.

"Wha-"

*bleep* *bleep*

Anko looked at the TV screen as the proctor flickered on._ "_The second test is ultimately complete. We have confirmed that a total of 21 have passed, and for the first time in five years, we'll start the preliminaries before the third test._"_

The hokage sighed. "Let's proceed as planned. Just keep an eye on _his_ movements."

XxxxxXxxx

_-Prelims hall-_

"Well everyone, congratulations on passing your second test!" Anko announced.

The Rookie nine along with the remaining shinobi all stood there waiting for their next challenge. Shikamaru's eyes darted between the competition. _'There's still so much left...how troublesome...'_

Anko was thinking the same thing. _'I did tell everyone I would get it down by half, but I expected single digits. 21 out of 78 still remain. Seven teams made it in.'_

All the proctors and jounin stood by one another, directly across from them were the genin pigs.

Ino breathed a sigh of relief once she Itachi standing with his team. _'Yes! Itachi-kun made it, though I bet he had to carry everyone to get here.'_

Guy was next to his rival; Kakashi. "Your team Kakashi might have passed, but so did mine and this is as far as they go."

Kakashi looked back to Guy whom he hadn't heard a word from him. "Huh, did you say something?"

_'BAH! Kakashi's just trying to get on not nerves. Expected out of my rival.'_

Zaku glared at Itachi. '_You'll fucking pay for this you sneaky weasel, you.' _He was alive, somewhat. Although, his arms were broken, his rib cage was cracked, and the internal bleeding from inside his organs never stopped. _'I bet you kept me alive, just so I would have to suffer through this hell. I could've been better off if you killed me, but noooooo!'_

Neji smirked, he could sense Itachi's chakra anywhere. _'He made it? It would be fun to battle him with such powers he possesses.'_

Hinata gave a light smile._ 'I'm glad Naruto-kun made it at least.'_

Naruto's hands were lazily behind his head, he stared at the arena in awe. "Wow! It's like the whole leaf village is here!"

"That isn't necessarily a good thing Naruto, it more opponents." Itachi said.

"Hehe! That just makes it all the more fun! You gotta look at the bright side for once!"

_'Honestly...he barely listens to anything I say.' _

"Alright everyone shut up!" Anko yelled. "Hokage-sama will now explain the third phase!"

Third Hokage walked up, he cleared up his throat. "Before the third phase can begin, there is something I want to tell you all."

"Why do we have all the allianced countries taking these exams together?" The hokage asked.

"..."

"It's to promote friendship among the counties and to raise the level of understanding between shinobi." Itachi explained.

"Very good, Itachi. Essentially, that what the exams stand for, but the true reason we have these exams is simply to act as a replacement of war among the allies. Go back in history, our allies were once our enemies, so we have these exams in order to prevent fighting...that is the true meaning of the Chūnin exams."

All this got Naruto really confused. "Why the hell are you making this confusing?! I thought this was a test to decide whether or not we'll become chūnin!"

"That is true, but to different countries the exams have another meaning. Each country's shinobi risk their own lives for the prestige of their land."

"Wha- prestige?"

"It's basically respect and honor." Itachi explained.

"Ah, I see!"

"So watching these exams," Third Hokage continued. "Will be leaders and higher-ups who make use of the shinobi."

"If the strength of a country is clear, that country receives more clients and vice-versa. It can also be a warning signal to enemy countries, like saying our country is this strong."

Kiba clenched his fist. "But why do we have to risk _our_ lives?!"

"The strength of the country is its village. The strength of a village is its shinobi who stand there. And a shinobi's true strength is born through risking one's life. These exams are set up so you risk your life and show everyone your true power, what truly lies inside of you."

"By losing life and establishing those very situations achieves balance and creates friendship. Now, before we begin this test, I'm telling you all right now, this is a battle. Your lives, dreams, everything is at stake."

"...I don't care. Just hurry up and explain it already." Gaara ushered.

*cough*

A shinobi appeared in the room. "Excuse me Hokage-sama, but as referee would you allow me to explain the third phase?"

Third Hokage moved away. "Of course."

He stood up. "Hello everyone my name is Gekkou Hayate..."

*cough* *cough*

"...before we start the main event, you have one more _thing_ you have to do."

*cough* "It's called the preliminaries. It's to decide who moves onto the third test."

"What?! Preliminary?!" Shikamaru yelled. _'How many of these damn trials! Man this sucks!'_

"Well the first and second test have apparently been too easy this year. There's just one too many people remaining and according to the rules, we must have a preliminary, people will be coming from long distances and we don't want the test to run on too long." Hayate explained.

"...those who feel they are unsuitable for fighting, come forth now because we'll be starting the prelims immediately."

"NOW?! After hell in that forest?!" Kiba argued.

"Yes, now."

Kabuto raised his hand and risked a glance at Itachi. "I quit."

Hayate checked him off. "Anyone else, also, these'll be individual battles. Just a heads up."

_'Bah! I can't stand this!'_ Naruto turned his attention to Kabuto. "But you've come this far! Why are you quitting now after all those times you've quit before?!"

"Sorry, but my body is just too beat up and I can't even hear out of my left ear."

"Fine..."

"Anyone else?" Hayate asked.

Itachi watched as Kabuto started leaving the building. _'What're you planning this time, Kabuto?'_

Anko got out some files. "Hokage-sama, he's the one from the battle of bell-flower pass, right?"

"A jounin from the medical team brought him back from the enemy's child who survived."

"I see..."

Kabuto walked past his partners and mentioned something to him, after that, he was out of the building. _'A spy's work is never done. Itachi already knows that I work for Orochimaru...I can't risk revealing my full identity.'_

Itachi turned to Sakura, he spoke in a hushed voice. "Sakura, please do not speak of the Mangeykō sharigan."

Scarring memories came flooding back. "Itachi-kun...you were in so much pain I..."

"It will only get worse if people knew about my _special_ sharigan. There are dangerous figures out there and I just can't risk getting anyone getting killed."

XxxxxXxxx

_Sasuke..._

_-Land of Rain-_

Sasuke entered a dimly lit room, the only lighting was a large hole where you could see the entire village. He approached Madara who was sitting in a corner. "Why did you call me?" He asked.

"I wanted to tell you," Madara lifted his head, through the small hole you could see his bright red sharigan. "I've delivered the gift of yours."

"Is that all?"

"No. For the longest time I've been watching that boy's every move ever since I gave him the eyes and I feel it was mistake you made to give him such power."

"And why is that?"

"Because he has no desire whatsoever to become a true Uchiha."

Sasuke sighed. "My brother isn't a clay piece you can mold to your desire by sweet talking or empty threatening him. Change can only happen with action and I promise you, I will motivate that action."

XxxxxXxxx

"And especially, don't tell Naruto."

"Ok...I'll do it for...you."

OoO

Anko began having ill feelings about the Orochimaru situation. "We should have Itachi removed and watched over." She suddenly said. "Orochimaru really wants him...we can't let him get Itachi."

"In fact, I bet if we ask nicely, he'll likely comply. I mean, you've seen Itachi, right? He acts nothing like the other Uchiha did."

"While although that's correct, I want a chance for all my shinobi to partake in the exams." The Third stated "Let's just keep an eye on Itachi and make sure Orochimaru doesn't try anything suspicious."

OoO

"-Now, the preliminaries consist of one on one matches. There are twenty entrants therefore ten matches. The winners will advance to the third and final test."

"Basically, there are no rules. You fight until one of you dies or acknowledges your defeat. However, If I see someone has clearly won, I will step in." Hayate gestured to the electronic board that recently opened up. "This is where your fate lies, while I admit sudden, but here we go anyways."

"Let the preliminaries begin."

The electronic board blinked a few times, Hayate looked at the board until the match showed. "Alright then, our first fight; Uchiha Itachi versus Akado Yoroi."

The two entrants stayed in the arena area while everyone else went into the stands. Hayate walked in between them. "Now," He announced. "Let the match commence!"

* * *

A/N: **Day 8 of my re-edits, you know the drill, if you happen to be reading this on July 19th, 2015 then wait a day or two before reading. And as always, thank-you;)**

-Also, when I say everyone was surprised/shocked I mean that's everyone but Itachi, he'll always have that emotionless face XD

**Old news:** So I'm taking down the poll...but, I'll put up a new poll, just a popularity poll:)


	9. Chapter 9: What I truly mean to you

**Recap: **Team 7 successfully completes the second phase of the Chūnin exams. Yay. Kabuto it turns out, is working with Oro !Boo! and the preliminaries begin.

**Notice:** Sooner or later, I'm adding OVA's, random filler episodes (if there are any...), and movie chapters. They're just for fun and you can skip them if you like. I'm releasing those along with the canon chapter so there. You can request if you like.

* * *

Chapter 9: What I truly mean to you

Naruto intensely watched Itachi from behind the stands. "Don't you dare lose weasel!" He barked.

OoO

Itachi and Yoroi nodded to each other. "Are you ready?" Itachi asked.

"Of course I am!" Yoroi rummaged through his bag, he quickly grabbed several shuriken, and threw them at Itachi. Despite Itachi not moving an inch, the shuriken landed right behind him.

"Then it looks like I have no other choice but to use this attack!" Yoroi's hand glowed with chakra, his specialty move. He ran up to Itachi, at this point, he hadn't bothered moving.

OoO

Naruto clenched the standee bars, he watched as Itachi moved in closer to Yoroi. "Sensei, why isn't that guy moving? Itachi's gonna get him!"

Kakashi crossed his arms. "It seems Itachi placed him under _his_ specialty move, looks like the fight's already over."

"Over?"

OoO

Unexpectedly, Yoroi's hand went straight through Itachi's body. "How the...how the hell did you do _that_?"

"The moment you looked into my eyes, your fate was sealed." Itachi answered.

_'Kabuto never said he could use...genjutsu.'_

"This was over before it even started."

OoO

Itachi got behind Yoroi and knocked him out, Hayate walked over to them and examined Yoroi's state, he raised his arm. "This battle is over."

Orochimaru, hidden in disguise amongst the shinobi, licked his face. _'Excellent, oh, but I wish I got to see more of his...technique.'_

"YEAH!" Naruto cheered, breaking the eerie silence. "Ha! I'll show you a real fight, weasel!"

Sakura dreamily watched Itachi._ 'Itachi-kun, I just can't help it, you're so cool!'_

Itachi started walking to the standee stands. _'Weasel, huh? I can only blame my existence for that nickname people are dubbing me.'_

Tenten gawked at Neji, the only thing that Itachi person made him was frustrated._ 'Why do you continue to hide that real power of yours, Itachi? Genjutsu is the last I'd expect from you after that performance in the forest.'_

Itachi could feel Gaara's hard stare as he walked past him. _'Genjutsu? Is that your greatest trick? You'll be fun to kill...'_

"Mphm! Mpmh!"

Dosu unwrapped Zaku's bandages over his mouth. "I'm going to kill this Itachi and then he'll have a taste of what pain bad suffering truly is yeah he's gonna pay so-!" Quickly, Dosu re-wrapped his bandages around the mouth area. "I actually have to thank Itachi for beating you up, now I won't have to hear your mouth run."

Zaku glared at Dosu. "...$#%*&amp;$#!"

"You better hope you don't get paired with Itachi in Phase three. After what you did, I doubt he'll use that petty genjutsu on you."

"$#%*."

OoO

Kiba mockingly smirked. "Genjutsu huh? Is that Itachi's grand master plan? Heh, everyone can do Genjutsu!"

"Not everyone..." Shino muttered. "It not only requires precise chakra control, but some people just aren't suited for that type of jutsu."

"So what? Who needs chakra control?"

"Most people, that is, if you value living."

Everyone watched as the board flickered again until it finally showed the new match. Hayate glanced at at the board. "The second match is; Abumi Zaku vs Aburame Shino." He announced.

Dosu took the liberty to tear off most of Zaku's bandages. Barely did Zaku manage to get down the stairs and face his opponent.

"Peh, this'll be easy!"

Hayate took a look at Zaku, he looked badly damaged. "Zaku, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Don't lecture me on my self ne-!" He coughed up some blood and it splattered on the ground. "...This'll be child's..." *cough* "...play."

"You should forfeit, Zaku." Shino coldly stated.

*cough* "...never..."

OoO

Naruto watched Zaku struggle, he felt sort of bad for him. "Man, who messed up this Zaku guy? Looks like he got the freakin' crap beaten out of him."

For a second, Sakura's eyes laid on Itachi. "I don't know, Naruto. He must of had it rough in the forest."

OoO

Hayate sighed. "If you're so confident in your own abilities, then," He raised his arm. "Let the match begin!"

Zaku lunged for Shino and he dug his fingers into Shino's upper arm area. Shino simply pushed him off. "You can't beat me, not in the state you're in."

"I can! Shut up!" Zaku held out one arm and blasted Shino away, and with the other arm he clenched his stomach, the internally bleeding got even heavier. "...damn you, Itachi."

Shino stood up, as he did, Zaku watched something black crawled up his face. _'Dah! What're those?!...Are they bugs?!'_

Zaku felt a weird sensation on his arm, he lifted his arm and saw the same black bugs crawling up his arm and his face.

"In case you didn't know, those are destruction bugs." Shino explained. "They attack their prey in large numbers and eat their chakra. With this many attacking you, you'll be no doubt die. Forfeit!, I'm warning you."

"You can't win here, if you decide to attack it'll be over and without a trump card, the only option you have is to lose."

_'I can't give up on my master, because of him, I finally have a place __in this world!' _Zaku held out both his arms. "If I can still fight, I CAN STILL WIN!"

Zaku tried releasing an air slicing blast attack, however it did not work, he looked at both of his arms which were immensely expanding. "...!"

*BAM*

Both his arms and chest blew out making blood go everywhere and stain the arena. Horrified, Zaku reached for his chest area, the front of his rib cage was completely shattered. "A-" With the amount of blood he lost, Zaku plummeted into a pool of his own blood.

Shino walked up to Zaku. "I told you to forfeit."

OoO

Naruto's mouth hung wide open. "Wow! Did you see that Sakura-chan?! That guy just exploded!"

Sakura sickly nodded. "...yeah, it was very...disgusting."

OoO

Two medic nin came in, they collected what remained of Zaku and placed him on the stretcher. "Report?" Hayate asked.

"Very slim, if any at all, chance of Zaku living."

"That's where ignorance *cough* and arrogance will get you."

OoO

"I don't understand, what the hell just happened?!" Naruto asked.

"It's an Aburame clan technique. Shino has bugs living within him." Itachi explained. "The Aburame, at the time of their birth, give up their bodies to these insects as a nest. By them feeding on said chakra the clan can control the insects and use them to their bidding."

"What? How do you know that?!"

"With the sharigan, chakra appears to me as colors and I can differentiate the different colors in Shino's body. And..."

"I study up on such trivial things every chance I get." He added.

Hayate glanced at the board as it flickered again. "Next match; Tsurugi Misumi vs Kankurō!"

_'Heh, my turn!'_ Kankurō and Misumi walked down the steps to the arena, as soon as they stood face to face, Hayate raised his arm. "Let the third match begin." He announced.

"I will not show any mercy, once I use my techniques, I advise you to give up immediately." Misumi warned.

Kankurō set down the item behind his back. "Well, well, well. Another cocky, arrogant fool. We'll have fun, won't we?"

Misumi ran up to Kankurō and swung his arm, effortlessly, Kankurō blocked his forearm. As if he was made of rubber, Misumi's arm wrapped around his entire body. Kankurō began to struggle as he tried to break free of Misumi's grasp.

"The more you struggle, the more I'll squeeze." Misumi hissed.

Kankurō stopped struggling and smirked. "Alright, I think our little fight is getting old. It's your turn to get bea-"

*SNAP*

"He broke his neck!" Lee exclaimed.

Misumi sighed. "I told you, I would win."

Kankurō's revolved all the way around to meet with Misumi's eye. His face peeled off, revealing a wooden puppet. "You've had your fun! Now it's my turn!" The puppet wrapped around Misumi's body while the real Kankurō emerged from the bandaged thing.

Attached to Kankurō's fingertips were chakra strings which controlled the puppet. "Heh, heh! Time to end this!"

_'Looks like we have a clear winner.' _Hayate quickly stepped in. "This battle cannot continue. The winner is Kankurō!" He announced.

OoO

"Hey wait...Kakashi-senisei! That's cheating! Two on one is unfair!" Naruto pointed out.

"That's not two on one, it's a doll. The caster of the puppet technique freely controls the puppet with the use of chakra strings. It's like using shuriken or kunai, just a little more advanced."

Hayate watched the board closely as it flickered with excitement.

Naruto crossed his arms. "How can a puppet match up with a kunai?"

"Why are you getting so worked up over this?" Sakura groaned.

"'Cause!" Naruto pointed at Kanurō. "I don't like him! He almost used _that_ on Konohamaru, and if it wasn't for Itac-"

"Oh yeah, I remember that." Sakura clung onto Itachi. "That was so brave, Itachi-kun!"

"No way! I could've done something like that!"

The board finally showed what the next match would be.

"Oh please! I bet-"

Kakashi gestured to the board. "Sakura, it's your turn."

Sakura gazed at the board, without uttering a single word, she got up and walked towards the staircase.

"...Hey wait!" Naruto called out.

Sakura stopped and turned around.

Naruto grabbed Itachi and smiled for her. "Don't worry! We totally believe you're gonna kick her butt!"

She pumped her fist and gave them a light smile. "I sure will!" _'But of all people...'_ As she walked down the stairs, her eyes fixated on Ino. _'...why her?'_

Ino and Sakura stood face to face with each other. "I never knew I would have to...fight you, Sakura." Ino slowly said.

"..." Sakura took off her forehead protector.

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

For kunoichi class today, their task today was to pick flowers and create a beautiful bouquet. However, Sakura was having trouble with that 'beautiful' part.

Ino found Sakura laying down on the soft grass with random flowers beside her. "Sakura...you gave up?" Ino asked, sitting right next to her.

"I can't pick these flowers, it's too hard, nothing matches and...I just...I just give up."

Ino picked up a flower. "It's not hard to pick simple flowers and make a bouquet. You just get one main flower, then complement it with the others...I mean you'd think you would be good with this since you're named from flower after all."

"..."

"You see, if the cosmos are your main flower, then use these smaller fujibakama to complement the bigger ones, like-"

A group of girls suddenly came in and decided to ruin everything. Ami, the leader of the group, kicked blades of grass at Sakura. "Do you think you're pretty billboard brow?! Stop trying to make yourself look good because it's only a lost-"

Ino swiped a bunch of fujibakama and threw it into Ami's mouth. "Wha-why'd you do that?!" Ami shouted,

"I'm sorry, but you're mouth looked like a vase and, you might wanna get that checked out, there's poison in the roots."

"...! AHHHHHHHHH!" The three girls ran off in search for their sensei.

Sakura stared at Ino._ 'Ino...why are you just...I could only wish to be as talented as you...' _Sakura held the fujibakama in her hand. "Compared to you Ino-chan, I'm just a fujibakama."

"No, you're not even a flower," She smiled at her. "You're just a bud."

"Just a...bud?"

XxxxxXxxx

Sakura spoke confidently. "I'm...stronger than you now, and I have every intention of beating you."

"Who do you think you're talking big too?! Don't act all high and mighty!" Ino yelled.

OoO

Up in the stands, Naruto was barely hanging over the edge. "Man! This is-" Kakashi caught before he fell over.

"Is the fight that intense, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm just...I'm really worried for Sakura! Kakashi-sensei, who do you think is gonna win?"

"I don't know, those two are...perfectly matched."

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

"Why did you give me this ribbon if I'm only a bud?" Sakura asked.

Ino picked up another fujibakama. "Because, someday that bud will grow into a flower, a flower that will perhaps be even more beautiful that the cosmos."

"Ino-chan...thank...you."

XxxxxXxxx

_'That's why I want to fight on fair grounds with you, Ino, I don't just want to show Itachi...I want to show you, that this bud has finally bloomed.'_

_'That's why I have to surpass you...'_

OoO

_"Why don't you put the forehead protector on your forehead?"_

_"When I put this on my forehead, is when I don't lose to you Ino, as a shinobi."_

_"Then I will do the same, Sakura."_

OoO

Sakura and Ino both put tied their forehead protectors on their forehead. Quickly, Sakura waved a hand seal and concentrated her chakra to the souls of her feet.

Ino got into stance and prepared for an attack. _'What are you up to-'_

*BAM*

Without hesitation, Sakura landed a punch on Ino's face.

"How did you become so strong?!" Ino yelled back, she reeled back her arm and the two clashed. With equal power, Sakura and Ino both flew back while blood spilled out of their mouths.

Hayate watched as the two shakily got up and clashed again and again. _'This is taking longer than I expected. It's been ten minutes already...'_

"How can we be..._even_?!" Ino yelled.

"Don't lie to yourself!" Sakura remarked. "I'll never be even with someone who worries about her long, pretty hair!"

"STOP LOOKING DOWN UPON ME!"

OoO

Shikamaru began worrying. "Ino's getting to her breaking point..."

OoO

"This is it." Ino got out a kunai knife and in a fellow swoop, she sliced off her pony-tail "Don't think you're the only one who can cut their hair!"

Ino did a bird hand seal and opened up her hands making an 'O' shape. "This is where it ends, Haruno."

OoO

"Huh? What the hell is Ino doing?!" Naruto yelled.

"It's the mind body change technique. It's a jutsu that allows you to project your own spiritual energy into your opponent's body, allowing you to control that person. But mind that, it has a major weakness. It's a slow jutsu and it requires time to get back to your actual body, which means for that time, an enemy can attack you." Kakashi explained.

"And what if it misses?"

"Then you're vulnerable to the enemy."

"That's crazy..."

_Team 8..._

"Why would she use that? She's only supposed to use that during my shadow technique!" Shikamaru yelled. "You're going to lose!"

"It's not even a battle jutsu," Asuma added. "What is she thinking?"

OoO

Ino got into position while Sakura ran around, ignoring the yells of Shikamaru, she used it anyways. "MIND BODY CHANGE TECHNIQUE!"

Ino lowered her head while Sakura stopped and playfully smirked. "Looks like you've missed, Ino." Suddenly, she felt something coil her legs.

"Did I miss?" Ino raised her head, it was only a trick. "Now that I've trapped you. This battle is finished."

Sakura looked down and saw Ino's hair wrapped around her legs. _'So that's why she cut her hair?!'_

Ino did the same bird hand seal. "Mind body change technique!"

The room went silent as Ino's and Sakura's head dropped.

"..." Sakura's head went up. "This is it..."

OoO

"What's wrong with her?" Naruto asked.

"She's under the jutsu Ino cast." Kakashi explained.

OoO

Ino was now successfully in Sakura's body. _'Heh, I'll just make her forfeit, see how you like that, Sakura!'_ Sakura slowly raised her hand. "I Haruno Sakura would like to-"

Naruto clenched the rail. "NO SAKURA! SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU CAN'T GIVE UP!" He shouted.

Sakura began trembling.

_'There's no way I'm gonna let you win, Ino!'_

_'What the hell?! How is this happening?!'_

_'It doesn't matter! I'm gonna win this fight no matter what!'_

"Well...do you want to forfeit?" Hayate asked.

"CHA! WHY IN THE HELL WOULD I FORFEIT?!"

Somehow, the technique failed and made Ino go back into her own body. For something like this to happen, it was pure crazy.

OoO

_'Sakura had such a strong ambition, not wanting to lose to her rival, that she forced Ino out of her body.'_ Kakashi glanced at Naruto. _'Just like you, Naruto, huh?' _

Naruto let go of the railing, he stared at Itachi who for the most part, was silent. _'I know you don't like fighting as much as me or anyone else but, if we ever do have a fight, Itachi, I wonder what ours'll be like?'_

OoO

With the last of their chakra, Sakura and Ino ran up and punched each other as hard as they could, knocking them both out. Hayate walked up and analyzed their bodies. "Because both opponents are knocked out. This ends the match with no winner."

At the same time, Kakashi and Asuma appeared, picking up their fallen student. They went back to the standees and placed Sakura and Ino next to each other.

Kakashi looked at Sakura. "That was a good fight, Sakura."

They'll be okay in about half an hour." Asuma reassured.

"Our next match is; Temari vs. Tenten."

Temari and Tenten walked up to each other.

"GO TENTEN!" Lee screamed.

Hayate raised his arm. "Let the fifth match begin!"

XxxxxXxxx

_-Just outside of Konoha-_

Sasuke along with his partner sat just outside of Konoha. "Why are we here again?" Kisame asked.

"Sometimes...I'll watch Konoha as a sort of pastime." He folded his hands. "As Konoha grows more and more, whenever I destroy the village, it'll be more satisfying."

"Is that so? What a creepy person you are."

"You're one to speak."

XxxxxXxxx

"And the winner of round five is Temari!" Hayate announced.

Itachi got himself up and started to walk off.

"Wait! Weasel where are you going?" Naruto asked.

"I'm going to get a drink of water."

"Yeah whatever! Just be back in time for my match!"

"I promise, I wouldn't miss your match for the world." With that, Itachi walked out of the arena hall and entered the tower's main entrance.

OoO

"It's been a long time hasn't it, little brother?"

Itachi paused, the color drained out of him, he recognized that voice from anywhere. "...Sasuke? Why are you...here?"

"Because I'm itching to kill _everyone_," Sasuke slid out his katana. "JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT!"

"I won't allow you to!"

"And how are you going to do that! With love?!"

"No..." Itachi turned on his Mangeykō sharigan. "...With _hate_."

* * *

A/N: **Day 9 of my re-edits, wooo, almost done! If you're reading this on July 20th, 2015, I advise you to wait a day or two before the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10: Konoha Sports festival

**Notice: **A funny little thing just for laughs and the extra sarcasm I left out in the canon chapters.

And I know pretty much out of timeline, but whatever:/

* * *

Chapter 10: Konoha sports festival

"HELLO EVERYONE! WELCOME TO THE ANNUAL KONOHA SPORTS FESTIVAL!...Or the Hidden Leaf village Grand Sports festival. Whatever suits you."

The Konoha 12 stepped into the arena where crowds of people cheered. Naruto smiled and put his hands behind his head. "Alright! Let's do our best-" Naruto paused, he felt pretty slimy. '_Oh man...why of all places?!'_

"Itachi-kun! I'm so excited! If we win, we'll get a week-off vacation from all those missions!" Sakura exclaimed.

"...That means I'll have more time for studies, how exciting."

_'Wow...how boring can someone get?' _

Before could Naruto take off and find the nearest restroom, Sakura grabbed his arm. "Wait, Naruto you're going to miss the opening ceremonies!"

*sweat drops* "Oh mannnnn!"

Ooo

After the opening ceremonies, Naruto ran straight to the bathroom line. "Move it! Move it! MOVE IT!" Naruto yelled, he slipped on, I don't know a cup, maybe, and bumped into someone who was standing in the impossibly long bathroom line.

The guy had on an odd cloak thing with red splotches on it. _'Man, does this guy have stupid hair or what? Looks like a duck's ass...'_ The guy turned around and stared straight at Naruto.

"Be grateful you still have the pretty hair of yours, blockhead."

_'This guy looks like Itachi!'_ "...what a pedo."

**The first match of the festival will soon begin!"**

OoO

"Welcome to the first match of the sports festival!"

Everyone got their feet strapped with wooden things while they all grabbed onto each others' shoulders. Naruto's face turned blue as that same churning from his stomach came back._ 'I guess I'll have to tough this one out.'_

Iruka held up his hand. "Ready! Go!"

Everyone took off, Naruto's team happened to be in the lead...for the time being. _'...dammit!'_ As fast as he could, Naruto ran, wanting to get out of this situation, fast.

After the race Naruto once again took off to the bathrooms.

Kisame wiped up the floor area (from previous...incidents) around the other bathroom, he left a sign, then walked away. Naruto ran across the hall to the other bathroom. Without looking where he was going, he slipped on the wet floor.

"OH NO! DAMMIT!"

*BAM*

Naruto fell face first on the floor, he cocked his head and saw a sign that read out of order. "Jeez...why'd it have to be out of order?" Naruto slowly stood up,

"...wait the girl's bathroom is still running." Naruto grabbed his butt and gulped. "Well, when you gotta go...you gotta-"

"Hey, Naruto-kun."

Naruto quickly turned around. "...y...yeah?"

"Well...um..." Hinata's face flushed bright red.

Naruto started to cross his legs together and squeeze his butt even harder. "Come on Hinata! What is it?!"

"...um...well...um...well...um."

**ALRIGHT COMPETITORS! ROUND TWO, GUYS!**

"...Good luck Naruto!" Hinata finally spit out.

_'What? That's all she came to say?!'_

This time, Naruto was running through a spiraled wooden bridge, odd yes. At the end he had to drink a liter of milk. Pretty nit-picky..._ 'That's so much milk! All of that?! They're trying to kill me!'_

Well, Naruto drank that milk. All of it. Only to have a tie.

"We have a tie folks! So we begin match 2 1/2! Tag team run!"

As luck would have it, Naruto's foot was tied together with Itachi's AND there was no break in between the milk run thing OR the tag team.

Iruka held out his arm. "Ready! Go!"

Itachi and Naruto took off, that was until that milk got the best of him. "Itachiiiii! Slow down!" Naruto yelled as he clenched his butt.

"What? Wh-"

Naruto tripped on a rock making both of them fall down. _'Damn! We're going to win this!' _He picked up Itachi and placed him on his back. "Let's do this!"

"Naruto?! What're you doing?! Unhand me!"

"Shut up! I'm gonna win this damn race, weasel!"

With the rumbling of his stomach getting even more painful, Naruto sped past everyone and crossed the finish tape. After that, Naruto ran off to the back door.

"Wait Naruto, stop running!" Itachi yelled as he got dragged across the dirty floor. They were apparently still tied up.

"Stop following me! Go poop somewhere else you pervert!"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about the porta potties! Sweet relief!" Naruto yelled, he was getting so close.

Naruto placed his hand on the handle only for the porta potty handle to disperse into a flock of ravens. "Wha?! WHA?! WHHWHAHAHBXBXBEUD!"

OoO

Naruto woke up from the genjutsu he was somehow placed under. "Did he just...damn you Itachi!" Naruto slowly got up. The porta potty door handle was just centimeters away."Yes! Finally!"

Before Naruto could open the door, the porta potty got knocked away by Choji's boulder jutsu. He got down on his knees. "NOOOOOOO! WHAT I DO TO DESERVE THIS HELL?!

He stood up and shook Shikamaru back and forth. "Why'd you that! You idiot!"

"Calm down. We were just using it as practice!"

"Wait...practice why the hell would you-"

Ino towered over Naruto. Random flames surrounding her. "What, do you think we can't practice here?"

"Wait! I never said that!" Naruto started to crawl away, but of course Ino grabbed Naruto and dragged him back to the games. "NO! NO! They're trying to kill me!"

OoO

Naruto was running ahead of a yellow ball thing while Itachi and Sakura we're moving it in the back, looks like they were winning. That was, until yet another sensation came over him.

_'Damn! I have to pee! Must of been from that milk!' _Naruto held onto his crotch and ran a little bit slower. "No wait! OUCH!" Naruto's body was flattened by the ball thing.

"You idiot!" Sakura yelled.

"Clusmy idiot!" Itachi added.

"I'M NOT CLUMSY!"

Ooo

After that event Naruto was getting to his final breaking point._ 'This is it! I'm gonna pee and poop for sure!' _"Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Several shadow clones appeared before Naruto. "Alright guys! Let's do it!"

That also failed as well. The shadow clones for some unexpectedly odd reason ALSO had to go, so they ran around to find the nearest bathroom, basically forming an orange stampede of them.

Itachi happened to be playing with a paddle stick, just outside of a vacant bathroom, not noticing the barrage of clones coming towards him.

"ITACHI WATCH OUT!" Naruto yelled.

Itachi looked up, he saw a giant orange blur. _'Why am I always getting involved in this pointless plot?'_

The clones grabbed Itachi and flung him elsewhere, after that, they barged through the tiny, tiny bathroom door. Only one clone got through safely. "Hurry up in there!" One of the clones barked.

"Wait two seconds! I just sat down!"

The real Naruto caught up to them and released the jutsu, he unzipped his pants and pulled the door handle.

It wouldn't budge.

_'Damn. My clone locked the door!'_ Naruto zipped his pants back up and knocked on several other bathroom doors. "Come on! I have to go really bad!"

He knocked on the last door. "Hurry up!"

"This is occupied." Shino hissed. "Wait your turn and play by the rules. Why you ask? Because it's fair."

"Play by the-?! This is why we don't get along!"

Finally after two long minutes, Shino got out. Before Naruto could go in, Shino grabbed him by the collar. "Ah-ah, your team is winning and it's the last round, only fair you support them."

Shino's bugs carried Naruto back to hell. "Let the real fun begin. Why you ask? Because it's the final round."

OoO

Sakura and all the other girls I don't care to mention, were running with batons in hand. "Move it Ino-pig!" Sakura growled once she got too close.

"Shut up, billboard brow!"

Sakura handed the baton to Itachi and he took off. "HURRY UP ITACHI!" Naruto yelled. "Run faster!"

He didn't run faster like he was suppose to, in fact, he ran slower. The last members of the team all stood on the sections and waited for them to arrive. "Ah forget this. Choji is never gonna get here." Shikamaru walked off.

_'Hurry! Hurry! Itachi is so damn slow!'_

"Grab it Naruto! Go!" Itachi ushered, thrusting the baton at him.

Itachi accidentally stuck the baton in Naruto's butt instead of his hands and he fell down. *sweat drops* Itachi picked Naruto up and put the baton in his hand.

"You're such a weasel Itachi...why of all places?"

"Shut up. And run."

Naruto ran at a snail's pace, until something came over him. _'Wait! If I win this! I get to go!'_ Naruto took off and sprinted past all the other competitors.

He ran past the finish line and jumped up in the air. "Yes! I did it! Now I can-"

Naruto couldn't move. It was Shikamaru with his shadow technique. "I know this is such a drag, but we have to do the award things and what not, anyways you guys won. How troublesome it all is."

_'None of the words he just said make any sense...'_

Naruto sighed as everyone came over to cheer for his awesome victory.

"Yay Naruto!" Sakura cheered.

_'Forget it, time to just let it all out!'_ "Ahhhh! Sweet relief at last!"

Everyone fell over while Naruto danced. "That felt awesome!"

"Uzumaki Naruto! Winner of the sports festival everyone!"

Itachi pushed Naruto down and held up seven fingers. "Fun fact everyone; the word 'damn' has been used seven times in this chapter!"

* * *

A/N: **Day 10 (final day) of my re-edits. This is it guys!**

I'm not sure when the next update will be, but it'll be soon...

Also, if you want to check it out the episode. This is the fourth Naruto OVA. It's in dub and sub plus it's really funny;D


	11. Chapter 11: My friends matter the most

**Recap: **With the preliminaries coming to an end, Itachi finally decides it's best to leave team 7 in order to protect _them_. However, trouble brews as it seems Sasuke and Kisame have appeared in the exam entrance.

_'naruto'_=thoughts

*new format*

**I deeply apologize for not updating sooner, I was working again on other stories and I guess I just didn't have the time. Well without further ado, I finally bring you chapter 12 to the best of my abilities.**

* * *

Chapter 12: My friends matter...the most

"Yo Itachi!"

"Hey...Itachi-kun."

"Sakura-chan, move back. I'm gonna knock him awake!"

"No you idiot! You'll hurt him!"

"That's the point!"

Due to all the racket, Itachi's body slightly stuttered. He began to slowly open up his eyes, he saw Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi looking over him. A slight of worry spread across all their faces. Then he realized what he was after and immediately sprung up.

"Where's Sasuke?!"

Naruto cocked his head in confusion. "Sasuke, you mean your brother? He isn't...here."

Itachi snatched Naruto's shirt collar. "WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! HE WAS JUST RIGHT HERE A SECOND AGO!"

"I-Itachi. I...don't know what you're talking about!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! YOU COULD'VE..." Itachi noticed the hard stares he was getting from everyone and loosened his hold. "...you could've gotten...killed. I'm sorry...Naruto."

"Itachi..."

Sakura started to swoon. "Oh Itachi-kun, you're so caring even to idiots like Naruto, but you care about me too, right?"

_'Does she understand nothing about Naruto?'_ Itachi forced himself a smile just for her. "Of course, Sakura!"

Itachi crossed his arms and annoyingly stared at Naruto. "Why're you here? Don't you need to finish your fight?"

"Oh that? It's over now." Naruto grinned. "But you should've seen me! I whooped Kiba's ass so hard!"

"Barely..." Sakura scoffed.

"Hey! You saw me didn't you?! Come on, back me up Kakashi-sensei."

"You did get beaten up pretty badly."

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"...I'm sorry, Naruto." Itachi apologized. "I didn't want to miss your fight. But I...did."

Naruto looked back to Itachi, his head was still hanging down like a sick puppy. "Hey, you don't need to apologize, idiot! You can see me whoop ass in the final round!"

Itachi turned around. "Yeah..." He began walking out of the entrance hall.

"Wait, Itachi." Kakashi called out.

Itachi stopped in the middle of the doorway.

"Concerning the exams, there'll be a one-month period break for training before the final round begins." He got out a paper from his pocket and showed it to Itachi. "The Third Hokage wanted me to show this to you."

Itachi stepped back and took a closer look at the paper. "I see, this who were all fighting...and I'm up against Gaara?"

"Alright, I understand. Sakura please come with me."

Sakura was surprised, but all the more happy. "Ok, Itachi-kun!"

Naruto looked towards Kakashi. "What does Itachi want to do with Sakura-chan?"

"You tell me, Naruto."

"Aw come on! That just means, you don't know!"

Sakura followed Itachi out of the building, it was already late and the sun had almost set behind the horizon. The temperature was mild and the wind shifted ever so slightly. Itachi grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her close. "Sakura..."

Sakura's face flushed a bright red, she had never, ever been so close to Itachi before. "Y-yes Itachi-kun?"

"You are very weak, Sakura."

Those words he said, it hurt her so much knowing what he truly felt about. Sakura stared at the ground in despair. "I-I know but..." A small smile started to form. "...you'll always be here to protect me!"

"That is something, I cannot accomplish."

"Huh?"

"Sakura, for this one-month period of training, I want to train you so you can fight when I cannot be present."

"T-Train me? Are you serious?!"

"Sakura, I have never been more serious in my life."

"...!" _'What?!'_

He continued. "However, I'm only going to teach you the basics, to reach your full potential you'll have to find a master. And to further your techniques, I want you to watch Kakashi train me."

"Itachi..."

Itachi took a step back away from Sakura and walked straight past her. "After we're done, you will become a true Kunoichi."

_'It feels like, Itachi, I'm always staring at you and Naruto's back...I don't even think...'_

_'...You could help that.'_

XxxxxXxxx

The luminous moonlight passed through the window and fractured into smaller rays. Itachi stared at the shattered moonlight. "How long will I stay here and put them at risk? He's searching for me...I _know_ it."

"I will never forgive myself if _any_ of them got hurt." Itachi forced himself up out of bed. "That just means, I'll just have to train...I'll perfect all my Uchiha powers until...I can't beat you."

_The next day..._

*knock-knock*

"Sakura! Get the door!"

"Ok, ok!"

Sakura slumped down the stairs and dragged herself towards the door. "Ugh, who could be awake at this time? It's like two in the morning." She cracked opened the door. "What do you want, I'm tire- ITACHI-KUN?! Huh? What're you doing here?!"

"Sakura, we have training to do. Get some clothes on and head over to the old training field."

"Right!" She quickly closed the door and groaned. "GAHHHHHHH! Why did he have to see me like this?!" She slammed her fist on the floorboards. "Damn it!"

_Half an hour later..._

Itachi and Sakura were finally both at the old training field, although, at the crack of dawn no less. Itachi perched himself onto one of the stumps and threw Sakura a kunai knife to start the lesson. "For your first objective I want you to use that kunai and stick it in my arm." Itachi held his arm out, signifying she could begin.

"What?! I'm not going to do that! I don't want to hurt you!"

Itachi weaved several signs. "Shadow clone technique!"

A clone of Itachi appeared right beside him. The clone nodded towards Itachi. "You want me to attack her?"

"No, that isn't the point of this exercise." He looked towards Sakura. "Go ahead Sakura. Destroy the clone if you can't hurt me."

Sakura gripped her kunai, she ran up to the clone and jumped up, prepared to strike him with everything she had.

"I'm sorry Itachi but..."

Sakura's kunai was lodged in the ground right beside the clone's foot. "There's no way I could attack you."

"..." He weaved a different set of signs.

"Attack me now, Sakura."

Right before Sakura's eyes, it was Naruto, he looked the same, and sounded the same, he really did it, Itachi turned himself into Naruto.

Sakura picked up the kunai and like before, Itachi extended his arm. "I know what you're trying to do, Itachi." Sakura lifted her head.

She walked up to Itachi and placed the kunai in his hand. "I won't let my feelings get in the way of our team!"

Itachi changed back into his regular old handsome self. "Very good, Sakura!"

"But I want to ask you something, what if I was trying to kill you, what would you do then?"

"...I don't know."

Itachi sighed. "I understand your trust in us and that is a good trait, but a shinobi must be able to make split second decisions, whether they are your comrade or your family, sometimes you are in a situation where you must attack them, without a second thought."

"Yes, Itachi-k...sensei."

Itachi swung the kunai around on his index finger. "Sakura, I know what you're going through right now. I know you look up to Naruto and I, where you stand isn't even near to our potential. I bet you think...you're dead weight."

Sakura clenched her fist. _'That's the only thing...I hate about myself. I want to be able to protect you guys...but...'_

"There is something, however about you that surpasses even...Kakashi-sensei. Your own strength potential is monstrous and that's why I'll teach you how to control that strength and use it to your own."

Itachi began walking off. "Alright. That's it for now, Sakura. We'll come back tomorrow and work on that strength of yours, ok?"

Sakura nodded her head in excitement and ran up to him. "Hai, Itachi-sensei!"

_The day after..._

"Kakashi-sensei! Hey!" Naruto yelled as he ran up to his sensei.

Kakashi picked up a magazine off the rack. "Oh perfect timing, I've been meaning to tell you who your instructor will be during the training period."

"H-huh? But...I want you Kakashi-sensei!"

"I have other things to do." Kakashi slid the shopkeeper the money for the magazine issue. "I'll be too busy to train you."

"Yeah right! You're just gonna train Itachi!"

"Now, now! Don't say it like that, because I found a teacher much more reliable than me."

"Who is it?!"

Ebisu approached Kakashi and Naruto and shifted his glossy black-shaded glasses. "It's me."

Naruto took a step back. "Wha...CLOSET PERV?!"

"Yep, Ebisu will be your instructor for the 30-day training period."

XxxxxXxxx

Kakashi pulled his arm up and reached for another rock to advance forward._ 'I'm definitely out of shape, cliff-training shouldn't be this hard for me...' _"I hope I make it in time."

OoooO

_Flashback..._

The Jounin of Konohagakure sat around the Third hokage's office. Kakashi was taken back by the announcement. "He was...killed?"

Hizuren nodded. "Yes. Hayate was found by Kikyou castle this morning, dead."

Anko gritted her teeth. "It was Orochimaru wasn't it?"

Kakashi shook his head. "We can't make that assumption, Hayate was tailing the sound spy, Kabuto...although I do agree with you, Orochimaru must have something to do with this."

"Then we must cancel the Chūnin exams Another Jounin if Orochimaru is involved." Another jounin pointed out.

Itachi was standing outside of the Third's office, listening to every word they spoke._ '...it would be my fault if they can't become a chūnin...I should've just sealed Orochimaru while I had the chance.'_

"He revealed himself to Anko and urged us not to cancel the exams among the allied shinobi forces." Hizuren explained.

"What're you going on about?" Koharu Utatane questioned.

"Orochimaru has the power to destroy small countries, since he's escaped, many countries have set their eyes on him. Plus he has a grudge on our own country, any country would want him."

"Then that means...one of our allies has joined with Orochimaru to betray the leaf!"

"Needles to worry. We don't have enough information right now to justify that."

Homura Mitokado added in the Third's statement. "We already have ANBU gathering information in other countries, if we're too focused on this, the enemy could use that against us."

"And, I trust in you guys. If the time comes where we have to fight, then we'll all be ready!"

OoooO

Kakashi swung his foot onto another ledge, only for it to break under the heavy weight.

"..."

"...!"

Somehow, he gathered the strength to throw himself up and catch another ledge.

"Hey."

Kakashi looked up. "Huh, you finally came. And you've brought a guest?"

_A week later..._

"One-hundred twenty-one...One-hundred twenty-two..."

"One-hundred twenty...three...One-hundred twenty-four."

"O-" *ha* *huff* "-ne-hundred twenty..."

"I heard what happened to you, Lee-kun."

Lee looked up, there was a bouquet of flowers sitting next to him, behind them, he saw Itachi standing right before him. "I-Itachi?"

"This Gaara...he must be very strong."

"Hu-"

The nurse who was looking over Lee had enough of this. "Stop this please, your body, it isn't-"

"...Can you please just, be quiet!" Lee yelled.

_'Itachi...Gaara...Naruto...Neji. I will surpass all of you, one day. But for now, I won't give up!'_

Ino and Sakura were on the back porch, worried for Lee. Sakura stared at the both of them. _'Lee-san...'_

OoooO

_Flashback..._

*ring-ring*

Itachi walked into Yamanaka's flower shop, he pulled out a bag of Ryō and placed it on the counter. "A bouquet of flowers, please."

Ino lifted her head from behind the counter and squealed. "Itachi-kun! I had no idea _you'd_ visit today!" She bent behind the counter and picked out a beautiful array of flowers. "No need, to pay Itach-kuni, it's all free for you!"

Sakura happened to be passing by, and saw Ino talking with none other than Itachi. _'CHA! That whore!' The doors flew wide open, Sakura ran straight in and leaped towards Itachi. "Catch me, Itachi-kun!"_

_Itachi caught Sakura in mid-air and landed down on the counter. His coal black eyes sparkled as he spoke to her. "You're too beautiful to go to any other man. Let's get married, Sakura-chan!"_

_"Oh Itachi-kun! Of course I would marr-"_

"Who are you talking to?" Ino asked, breaking up Sakura's thoughts.

"H-huh?!"

"Oh Sakura, I was just leaving. Would you like some money to pay for the flowers?" Itachi asked.

"Itachi-kun..." Sakura noticed a bouquet of flowers in his hand. "Who are those flowers for?" _'CHA! It better not be for any other girl but me!'_

"They're for Lee-kun. I heard what happened while I was passed out."

"Hey guys, did you hear about Lee-san." Ino suddenly brought up.

Sakura and Itachi looks towards Ino.

"Well because of his serious injuries, they say he'll never be able to become a shinobi again."

Itachi handed Sakura the money. He turned around and began walking out of the door. "Perhaps it's for the best he never even become one, again."

OoooO

Sakura stared at Itachi's back. "What is going through your mind...Itachi?"

"One hundred...twenty-" Before finishing, Lee collapsed on the ground.

Quickly, Itachi picked Lee up and heaved him onto his back. "I'll take him back." Itachi said, noticing the worry in the nurses' eyes.

_'...Why do you try so hard? Why can't you just...'_

_'Give Up?'_

* * *

_30 days later._

_-Final round chūnin exams arena-_

After 30 days of hard work and training, today was finally the day the genin would face off against each other in round three of the chūnin exams. Hundreds and hundreds of people were crowded into the stadium, excited to see how everything would turn out.

Naruto looked around the dusty stadium. He wasn't here. _'Huh? Itachi isn't here yet?'_

Shikamaru as well looked around, he realized Dosu was gone as well.

Genma bit down on his toothpick, his eyes drifted towards Naruto and Shikamaru who were looking any other direction but the crowd. "Hey guys, stop looking around. Face the customers."

"You guys are all the main attraction."

Sakura clenched the standee bars, one hand, she wore a fingerless gloves to accommodate her recent training. _'Where's Itachi! He hates to keep people waiting!'_

A jounin talked into Hizuren's ear, he nodded. "You haven't found Itachi yet?"

"We've dispatched several ANBU after him, but so far, no luck."

"I understand."

"Oh!" Hizuren turned to the approaching Kage. "Kazekage-dono!"

The Kazekage walked over to his seat and sat down. There was no doubt something off about him.

"Listen, Sakura. We're all worried about Itachi-kun, you should focus on Naruto's fight and cheer him on."

"Yeah, you're right!"

Hizuren stood up from his seat. "Thank you everyone for coming to the hidden leaf chūnin selection exam!" He announced. "We will now start the main tournament between the eight participants who made it through the preliminaries! Please stay and watch until the end!"

"Eight? It's seems one is missing." The Kazekage inquired.

"..."

Genma cleared his throat and began to speak. "There is something I would like to tell you before the matches begin." He got a sheet of all the fights to be held. "There have been some minor changes to the entry, check again to see who you're fighting.

Shikamaru stared at the sheet in confusion._ 'Did that Dosu guy just...forfeit? I was supposed to be fighting two matches.__' _

Naruto raised his hand. "Yo! Yo!"

"What is it?"

"Itachi isn't here yet so what're you gonna do?"

"If he doesn't appear by the time of his match, he will receive a default loss."

_'If that's it then what kind of shit is that weasel pulling? Itachi would never miss this, in fact, I bet he'd write a paragraph if he could on how much he wouldn't miss this.'_

Gaara's blood boiled. This guy...he's been actually looking forward to kill. "..."

OoooO

_Flashback..._

Gaara was about to walk out of Baki's, his sensei, house. "Wait, Gaara, where are you going?"

"...to test my existence."

Garage made his way up the cliff and stood behind a tall rock, he was just behind the site where Itachi and Kakashi were training.

"One more go, Itachi."

OoooO

"Alright guys, this is the final test." Genma announced. "The arena is different but the rules are the same as the prelims. You fight until one of you dies, or gives up. But if I determine that a fight is over, it's over and I will step in if necessary."

"Now the first match, Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuga Neji."

"Those two will stay while the rest of you go to the waiting room."

"Hinata, over here." Kiba called out. "These seats are free!"

"O-ok."

Hinata followed Kiba to a section of empty seats. "Heh, this'll be good, won't it?"

"Yeah..." _'Naruto-kun...'_

Kotetsu and Izumo happened to be right next to Kiba and Hinata, and as far as they could tell, there was no way in hell Naruto would ever beat Neji.

"The kid has gotten far I can tell you that." Kotetsu quipped. "He's quite the lucky one."

"Yeah, but I can tell you for sure, his luck ends here, there is just no way he can beat someone of the Hyuga clan."

Kiba smirked. _'Heh, that's exactly what I thought, but the second you underestimate the guy, the second you lose.'_

"Kyuu!"

"...! Huh? What's up, Akamaru?"

"What?...where?"

Kiba looked around, he finally pinpointed the target. _'Why is an ANBU there...'_

Naruto and Neji stood face to face with each other. "Neji, you're definitely going down!"

Neji's eyes narrowed at Naruto._ 'Those eyes...they're definitely the eyes of someone who totally believes in his skills.'_

"Now begin the first match!"

Neji got into a stance. "Heh, let's make this fun. It'll be a pleasure to see you fall apart when you discover reality!"

"Just shut up already! Let's start fighting!"

Hizashi watched closely at his son, Neji. "Study Neji, Hanabi, there isn't another who has received such thick Hyuga blood."

"Yes, father."

(_'They are called opening points, if you press it correctly, you can stop or increase your opponents flow of chakra to your own will.'_) Naruto prepared a shadow clone jutsu. _'That won't be too hard, I'll just fight from a distance so he won't press my points.'_

"Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Five shadow clones appeared before Naruto. All with kunai's in hand.

Sakura grinned. _'Smart thinking, Naruto.'_

"Interesting..." Kotetsu commented.

"I know, I'm surprised he can even use it, it's a jounin level jutsu after all."

Neji activated his byakugan at the clones, however even that could not tell them apart. _'I see, his chakra is evenly divided through out all the clones, my byakugan won't work against that.'_ "In the end, there's only one true body. And I will destroy it."

"Stop acting so high and mighty!" Naruto barked.

"If you're going to come, then come already."

"Stop disrespecting me!" The Naruto clones charged towards Neji with all their might.

As the first two clones approached him, Neji jumped up and pressed his hands against their spiky blonde hair. He twisted around and knocked their heads together. After that, he jumped down and landed on the ground.

With four more clones approaching him, he lifted up his body with one arm and swung his legs on the incoming Naruto.

"Gwaa!"

Once again, the clones got up and ran towards Neji, two were coming from behind. In a fellow swoop, right before the attack landed, Neji grabbed their arms and elbowed them in the chin. "Guh!"

In front of him were two others, he quickly came close to them and pressed his hands against their stomach. As hard as he could, he pushed them away. As everyone guessed, Neji was owning the fight with ease.

Naruto was shocked. _'This bastard, he's like some sort of freakin owl!'_

"Become hokage, right?" Neji asked. "That's impossible. I can figure out with these eyes that your talent is decided by birth. Everything is decided, you could say, when a person's born."

Naruto clenched his fist. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU AUTOMATICALLY DECIDING THINGS LIKE THAT ANYWAYS?!"

"Then, does that mean anyone can become Hokage with just hard work and dedication? Only a handful of shinobi can become Hokage! Only those who are destined to become Hokage can become one. You don't decide such things by just trying. People must live within their own interchangeable flow."

"The only destiny that everyone shares...is death."

Hizashi stared at his son, he heard every word that escaped his lips._ 'Those eyes...they still grudge against the main family.'_

"So what?! You think I'm gonna give up?! Multi-shadow clone technique!"

More clones than before appeared.

"I'm not an idiot, I already see through your attacks!"

"I said, stop automatically assuming shit!"

The clones charged at Neji, but not one of them could touch him, he was slick in his movement. _'I already know, where your true body is, Naruto!' _Neji slipped past all the clones and charged for the real Naruto.

_'It was too easy, fearing having your points pressed must mean one body is doing the least amount of fighting. It's simple to figure out after that.' _Before Naruto could dodge, Neji's hand bolted to Naruto's own opening point.

"Uh-h..." Blood spilled from the sides of Naruto's mouth.

"You're the real one. I told you, it's useless."

"Heheh...come on, do you really..." He slowly raised his head and grinned. "Take me for, an idiot?!"

Naruto poofed right before his eyes, proving just to be another shadow clone.

"...! What?" _'He anticipated what I was thinking.'_

Two more clones jumped behind him. Naruto prepared a fist and was ready to hit him with everything he had. "I'm coming at you, Neji, and this time...I'M PREPARED TO DIE!"

XxxxxXxxx

_'...I'm sorry Naruto...but I think I'll have to miss this fight as well.'_

* * *

A/N: I know I cut off many parts of the manga, and I'll apologize for that but it matters not, all of you read this for Itachi. So I want to make sure you get as much of him as possible, I mean, I don't really think I have to rewrite the _entire_ manga.


	12. Chapter 12: Gaara vs Itachi Uchiha!

**Recap:** Before round 3 can start, the genin have been given a 30 day period to hone their skills.

Age listings as of now

Itachi: 12.5

Naruto: 12

Sakura: 12

Sasuke: 18

Kakashi: An age

**Pretty soon, I'll be making a spin off of this fanfic, I've been inspired to do something like Konoha high, but for now I can't think of the premises. ****Title to be named.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Gaara vs Itachi Uchiha!

_Flashback..._

"With the skills and intelligence you posses, you could easily become Hokage."

"I honestly doubt _they'll_ ever let an Uchiha become Hokage any time soon."

Itachi stood in the Third Hokage's office, pretty soon the Chūnin exams would start back up for the third and final phase. Hizuren folded his hands and got back to the topic. "Is this what you really want, Itachi? You'll have to wait a while before re-entering the exams."

"I couldn't care less about becoming a chūnin, the only thing I want is to ensure the safety of my team and the village."

"Understood. However, you'll be able to leave the exams only on one condition; you still fight all of your matches. I want every allied nation to know the strength of our shinobi."

"If that is what you wish then I accept your terms."

XxxxxXxxx

"HEY WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT FIGHT? WHERE'S THE UCHIHA?!"

After the last two fights were complete, the crowd was getting antsy for Itachi's fight, however, he still wasn't here yet. Temari jumped up into the stands where Gaara and Kankurō were waiting.

"Is time isn't?" Temari lifted her head. "Sure he's gonna come?"

"...he's coming." Gaara reassured. "Definitely."

OoO

Naruto scoured the arena for any sign of his friend. "Aw come on! What the hell's taking that idiot so long?!"

Shikamaru as well looked around. "Who knows? Maybe he got sick or something."

Out of nowhere, a single leaf blew past Naruto's face. "Huh, wha-" With one leaf came many other leaves and they spiraled into a vortex.

Soon after, the leaf vortex slowed down, reavealing two shinobi, one standing up while the other was crouching.

Naruto gawked at them in confusion. _'It's Kakashi but who's the other guy?'_

"I apologize for missing your match, Naruto."

"...!" Naruto's face immediately lit up.

The shinobi who was crouching down slowly stood up. He grabbed his cat-like mask and pulled it off, exposing his face.

Genma bit down on his toothpick. "What is your name?"

"Uchiha Itachi."

OoO

Sakura and Ino both stared at the long awaited Itachi, Sakura gripped the railing, quickly figuring out the outfit he wore. _'Why is Itachi wearing...that?'_

OoO

Kakashi relaxed his posture. "Sorry we're late."

Itachi's new outfit consisted of a black, short-sleeved high collar shirt covered by a light gray flak jacket. His arms now bear metal arm guards, while behind him was a sleek sword.

"I'm guessing...you won your match?"

"Yeah! You better believe I did!"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we sure did show up flashy, but um, is Itachi disqualified?"

"Nah, don't worry. We pushed Itachi's fight to the end. He hasn't been disqualified."

"Whew, that's good, that's really good!"

Itachi had a fixated glare on the Kazekage. _'There is something off about hi-'_

"Hey, Itachi." Naruto began walking back to the stand. "Don't lose to that guy! 'Cause I wanna fight you!"

"...Alright. I think it'll be interesting to fight you..."

"Yeah!"

The crowd got excited with the arrival of Itachi. "IT'S HIM! HE'S FINALLY HERE!"

"YEAH! THE UCHIHA FIGHT WILL FINALLY START!"

Shikamaru took a glance at Itachi as he too went back to the stands._ 'I wonder what you have up your sleeve this time, Genjutsu? Hm, even I'm getting excited.'_

OoO

"Hey...Sakura!"

"Yeah...?"

"Your team is pretty amazing! I mean, who knew Naruto could beat Neji and Itachi well, he just speaks for himself. Everyone's pretty pumped for Itachi's fight."

Lee stared at the ground, he clenched his crutches so hard his wounds re-opened. _'Itachi-kun gets to face Gaara of the sand...someone who I couldn't beat and Naruto-kun, he beat Neji, someone I could only dream of beating. Why...why does it...'_

_'...hurt so much?'_

OoO

Temari watched Gaara's face elate. _'This isn't good...Gaara has that face on him again.'_

"H-hey..." Kankurō spoke timidly. "...Uh Gaara, the plan you-" Temari smacked her hand over his mouth. "Don't talk to Gaara right now or he'll..._kill you._"

OoO

Itachi waited for Gaara to finally come down. _'How shall I approach Gaara? Hm...' _At long last, Gaara walked up to Itachi and they stood face, their match could now begin.

OoO

Kakashi entered the stands where Sakura, along with Team Guy were waiting. "Hiya Guy, and how's your body, Lee-kun?"

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi began rubbing the back of his head, again. "Oh sorry, you must of been so worried since I didn't-"

"Sensei." Sakura suddenly said, she clasped onto the rails even harder. "Why is Itachi wearing an...ANBU uniform?"

His arm dropped down. "Actually, Itachi wanted to tell you all in person after the exams finish."

"...I...understand."

OoO

Genma lowered his arm down. "Let this match begin!"

"Mother...I'm sorry..." Sand slowly arose from Gaara's gourd.

_'So it's true, the sand does move without a hand signal.'_

"...I fed you some nasty blood earlier, but this time...it'll be delectable!"

The sand rushed towards Itachi, quickly he dodged the attacks while closely examining it. _'...I've already come up with a strategy to beat him, but, I rather just use Genjutsu to quickly end this, however, the allied countries expect me to put on a show.'_

Itachi ran towards Gaara, using his arms, he pushed himself into the air. "Water release: Black rain technique!"

Jet black mist expelled from Itachi's mouth and soon covered a large of the arena. "And next, Fire release: Great fire ball technique!" Just as the mist was condensing, a flame thrower spewed from his mouth.

Now, the arena got covered in wild flames.

Gaara looked unamused. _'Is that it? Just a couple of petty flames?'_ His sand slithered out of the gourd and cloaked the fire with his sand, putting out the flames.

Much to everyone's surprise, the sand itself caught on fire. "...!" _'What?! Wait, that oil from technique he used must of mixed with my sand...'_

Itachi landed on the other side of the stadium, directly across from the flames. He nimbly dodged the incoming sand strikes and weaved hand signs to another jutsu. "Water release: Wild water wave!"

Water gushed from his mouth and crashed into the fire, the fire evaporated and coated the area in a thick layer of mist.

_'I see, so this is your plan.'_ Gaara crossed his arms, while sand continuously blocked Itachi's attacks from behind. From all the repeated attacks, Gaara had already sensed Itachi. He gathered up his sand and formed it into a needle shape and it shot directly behind Gaara.

With the mist finally clearing up, Gaara turned around, he stared at Itachi's lifeless body. "Heh, looks like-"

*poof*

Turning out to be only a clone, Gaara felt an intense jab in his stomach. He flew into the air as pieces of his sand armor came falling down. With the sand was far too slow to be keeping up with Itachi, he landed another kick right in Gaara's back.

Itachi punched Gaara in the face and he smashed into the ground. Itachi swiftly grabbed Gaara and kneed him in the chest.

Everyone watched in shock, to them, Itachi looked like a black blur. Kankurō began to worry how far Itachi would push Gaara. "That sand armor takes up too much chakra, what'll he do now?"

Gaara stood up and did a hand seal, his sand circled around his body and started forming a sphere around.

Itachi stared at Gaara while the sand slowly encased him.

OoO

"What kind of training did you do?"

"Huh?"

Guy slightly turned his head to meet Kakashi's gaze. "Itachi's stamina and speed, I mean. I have never seen someone improve so much in such a short time."

"Well, I've realized Itachi's has very little stamina and, even though it doesn't look like from here, he's prone to just simply giving up."

"It was extremely hard work, but I believe he kept on going because of Lee-kun."

_'...but that can't be all you taught him? Some work on stamina and speed isn't nearly enough to beat Gaara, there has to be something...else.'_

OoO

Naruto and Shikamaru sat on the staircase when Naruto suddenly stood up. "Shikamaru, I'm finding Kakashi-sensei!"

"Huh? What're you gonna do, Naruto?"

With no time to talk, Naruto ran up the staircase in search of Kakashi. "Hey wait!" Shikamaru called out, but he kept on running.

_'I have to stop...'_

_'This fight!'_

XxxxxXxxx

Itachi pulled out some chakra charged kunai and threw them at the sand sphere.

*CLANG*

_'Interesting...that's how hard it can get when it's packed tight, it's as if the sand itself is steel. This must be his...ultimate defense.'_

OoO

Naruto and Shikamaru had finally reached Kakashi. "Sensei!" Naruto yelled.

"Hm?"

"Stop this fight right now! He's not like us! He's INSANE!" Naruto tightened his hands into a fist. "He doesn't just want to fight, he _wants_ to kill!"

"Is that the amount of faith you have in Itachi?"

"..."

"Itachi's been holding back this entire time, what he's about to display from all that training, won't even be the extent of his power."

XxxxxXxxx

_'This should break the defense and then I can...' _

_'...finish.'_

Itachi ran up the arena wall, he held out his arm while a ball of electricity began forming. _'I've noticed the body language the sand siblings have been giving off ever since Gaara made that sphere, I can only wonder...'_

OoO

"He must be using..." Guy quickly turned to Kakashi. "This is why you trained him so hard in stamina and speed, isn't it? Such abilities drain chakra fast."

"Yep!"

Itachi took off from the wall and sped towards the sand sphere.

_'I'll start with the head first and rip it off.'_

_'Then crack I'll open so I can see the brains.'_

_'...huh? The head?'_

_'Yeah, blood will come out all over the place, you'll be so happy.'_

_'...mother.'_

"WHAT IS HE DOIN'?!" Naruto yelled.

*chi*

*chi*

"What technique is that?!" Sakura shouted as well. "And that sound?!"

"It's a technique designed for assassination."

Naruto and Sakura turned their attention to Guy who spoke suddenly.

"In simpler terms, it's merely a stab, but the speed of said stab and the large amount of chakra that builds around it heightens the strength of the flesh. Because, of the user's speed and concentration of chakra in a particular area, it gives off a peculiar sound of chi, chi, chi sound. Like the sound of a thousand birds flying towards you. That's why the technique is called..."

OoO

Itachi reeled his arm back. "...Chidori!"

_'Huh? What's this warm stuff?'_

_*drip*_

_'...mother-'_

_'Wait...it's...'_

"AAHHHHHHHHH! IT'S MY BLOOD!"

Itachi tried pulling his arm out but it wouldn't let go. "...I see." Quickly, he pulled out the sword behind him and it sword began swirling with electrified chakra. With one hand, he stuck his sword inside the sphere to try and cut off whatever was grabbing him.

*BAM*

OoO

_'WHAT?! HOW COULD HE SO EASILY BREAK GAARA'S DEFENSE?!'_

_'THE PLAN...HOW CAN WE GO ON?!'_

OoO

Itachi flew back and landed hard on the ground, he looked at his arm and saw a sand like thing still attached. "...this arm..." _'Gaara must be the one-tail's jinchuriki, for him to have such a feature. So the sand must be...'_

The sand sphere slowly crumbled as well as the claw attached to Itachi's arm. Once the sand sphere finally dissolved Gaara stumbled out while clenching the sword piece in his shoulder blade.

Itachi held out his arm and ran up the arena wall towards the kage seats. _'The kazekage must be planning to-' _As he sped up the wall, white feathers began raining down, and the crowd began falling asleep one by one.

With the full chidori in hand, Itachi lifted his arm and tried to stab the Kazekage. However, before chidori could hit, the Kazekage dodged it and set off a summoning jutsu.

"Shall we finally begin the..."

"Operation."

* * *

Several large snakes towered Konohagakure, they started destroying the buildings and attacking people. Right before Itachi's eyes, the Kazekage snatched Hizuren and leaped onto the roof of a higher structure.

Itachi gripped what was left of his sword.

A white-cloaked ANBU stood in front of Itachi and stopped him from going anywhere. "Your orders are not to protect the Hokage." He pointed to the purple ninjutsu barrier that had formed already. "We have that settled."

"...If I can't serve my only purpose, then I'll do what's best and contain the one-tail jinchuriki."

XxxxxXxxx

As Kakashi and Guy fought off the sound-nin intruders, Naruto and Shikamaru had been placed under the effects of the genjutsu, Sakuramcrouched down and lit her fingertips with chakra. Her only goal in mind was to wake them up.

_'Could this be our last missio-no...I'm just being paranoid!' _

"GAHAHAH! What happened?!" Naruto yelled as soon as Sakura woke him.

"I'll explain later." She moved onto Shikamaru. "...wait a fuck...you didn't even fall under the Genjutsu."

Pakkun chomped Shikamaru's leg, waking him up. "Owww! Why'd you'd do that?!"

"You weren't even under the effects of the Genjutsu this whole time?! Why were you playing dead, huh?!"

"Because I didn't want to get attacked," Shikamaru peeled Pakkun off his leg. "Besides, Itachi's a big boy, he can take care of hims-"

Sakura's expression drastically darkened, she pumped out her fist and got ready to attack.

"Whoa! You don't have to get violent!"

"No..." Sakura stood up and whammed the sound-nin over Naruto's head. With one might punch, he was sent flying and crashed into the wall.

Sakura pinned the sound-nin to the wall, one hand holding him up, the other hand in a tightened fist that could go off at any moment. "I-I'm surprised, you're quite fast." He muttered.

"You'd be surprised that I'm also..." Sakura punched the sound-nin through the wall leaving a giant hole. "...quite strong as well."

"Wha?! Sakura how did you get so good?!" Naruto asked.

"Itachi trained me to become a better ninja, now I can finally protect you guys!"

Right on time, Kakashi appeared in front of them, he looked exhausted from all the fighting. "Now that you're all awake, your mission is to chase down Itachi and join him, then escape to a safe place, however, whether he'll join you or not is completely up to him. I no longer have any authority over Itachi."

"...wait what're you-"

Sakura grabbed Naruto and jumped through the hole she created. "I told you, I'll explain later."

"Whoa!"

Shikamaru followed them out of the hole._ 'Why me?'_

_'Incredible, such fast improvements in only a month. Itachi's an even better teacher than...myself.'_

XxxxxXxxx

Finally, Itachi caught the sand siblings in sight. The siblings paused on a tree limb. _'Damn! He caught up to us!'_

_'Gaara's chakra is nearly depleted, so I'll have to assume that his tailed beast will take over. That means my best bet is to use Mangeykō sharigan, and if my old team happens to come, then I leave everything to them. I didn't train Sakura for her to become fodder.'_

"Temari, take Gaara." Kankurō set out his bandaged puppet. "I'll be your opponent, Itach-"

"No, you won't." Shino happened to be a few branches away from Itachi.

"So you've found me, did you. Tell me, why are you here?" Itachi asked.

"Why you ask?" He pointed at Itachi. "Before you left, I implanted some bugs on you. Female bugs to be exact."

"I see. That's why I felt such a weird sensation." _'Naruto was right about him all along. I've never felt so unpleasant for someone in my life.'_

"Only males can trace the faint scent of female bugs, although they themselves have a stronger scent to them, anyways, long story short...Itachi Uchiha, you need to chase after Gaara since your match is still unrequited, and me?" He faced Kankurō. "I have to fight Kankurō anyways, so why not now?"

"Is that so?" Itachi smiled at him. "Then, I'm in your debt, Shino."

OoO

"Temari, put me down!" Temari stopped at the nearest branch and set Gaara down. _'I have no idea what I'm going to do, Gaara is at his near breaking point and...I can't handle that ...thing, no, not alone. That Itachi guy is almost on us and I'm not sure how long Kankurō can hold him back. That's guy stronger than he needs to be.' _ "Good, you're awake!"

"Go away! Now! Scram!"

"...huh-"

"I SAID GO!" Gaara pushed Temari away something in him was about to break.

Itachi finally caught up to Gaara just as he was having a break down. "Are you ready to...finish our match?"

Gaara's skin started bumbling as sand formed around it, he began slowly taking form into something completely different.

_**'COME ON! LET ME OUT! I WANT TO KILL THIS GUY SO BAD!'**_

"You can't be wasting time with such petty fights."

"...!" Itachi quickly turned around. "What?! Who are-"

Someone grabbed Itachi from behind. "You have a _new_ mission now."

* * *

A/N: Update might be sooooooon, but might not


	13. Chapter 13: Scum

**Angelvan 105:** I thank you for the support you've given me, it's really motivated me to update fanfic and not drop it. It warms my heart make someone happy.

**Recap:** The exams end and the operation to destroy Konoha starts off with a big bang, Sakura's skills improve while Itachi searches for Gaara.

Also, I forgot to mention this last chapter, but **bold**=tailed beast

* * *

Chapter 14: Scum

Itachi eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the dimness of the room. "..." Hearing the sound of footsteps approach, he placed one hand on his sword.

Two dark figures loomed over him, creating a heavy shadow. Immediately figuring out who they were, he changed his position and kneeled down. "Why have you taken me out of battle, my team depends on-"

*clank*

"No longer are you to be associated with _Team seven_. They can carry on without you, as Anbu you are tasked with assisting the Hokage."

"With all due respect, sir. The Hokage will die. What I am asking you is to approve my assistance for the _nine-tails Jinchuriki_ so he won't not perish. After all, he is the Leaf's greatest weapon."

"If you believe he's the Leaf's greatest weapon, then you must have some faith in the boy, correct?"

"Your mission is to scour Konohagakure for any sound-nin spies, and if you manage to find one, bring them to the interrogation corp. After that, you'll be able to assist your 'friend'.

Itachi stood up. "The entire village? That will take a considerable amount of time-"

"Actually, it won't," Although mostly silent, the other figure finally spoke up. "Lucky for you, I specialize in covering large areas."

XxxxxXxxx

Together, Itachi and Danzo's subordinate, Sai walked out in the open where the invasion still took place. Homes still destroyed and leaf shinobi still fighting off the traitors.

Sai got a scroll and a container of ink. "So, Itachi, I would like to know a little bit more about yourself. We'll be on a team from now one, won't we?"

"Just knowing my name is enough, I have no information I'm willing to share."

He stroked several lines on his scroll. "Is this how you treated your old teammates?"

"Super beast imitating drawing technique!" The large bird from Sai's drawing came to life and escaped out of his scroll.

"What an interesting technique. Is this creature tangible, perhaps?"

Sai boarded his ink bird. "Think of it as a real bird."

"I see." Itachi as well boarded the ink bird and it took off, soaring into the pastel, blue sky.

OoO

"...Itachi, I'll be back."

"Where are you going?"

"The rats I set off earlier have found something incriminating."

"Incrimanting, as in what?"

"Well...nothing I'm willing to share." Sai jumped off his bird and scoured through the deserted alleys of Konoha. As quickly as Sai jumped off, five minutes later no less, he jumped back on with one of his rats in hand. "The business I've had is taken care of."

"Hey, anything else you want me to know about you?"

"..."

"Hm, I guess you're the silent type."

"Have you found any sound-nin yet, Sai?"

"None."

"Then there's no reason for you to be talking."

"Well, you're definitely a boring charact-"

Itachi grabbed Sai and jumped off the bird, he set Sai down on a tree limb as Sai's bird blew up. _'That was too close.' _He slid out a newly repaired sword as a sound-nin came flying towards them, once he got close enough, Itachi thrusted his sword through the sound-nin's abdomen.

"Oh Itachi, you did it! That was gre-!"

Without a word, Itachi rammed the sword hilt into Sai'd stomach. "So tell me, where's the _real_ Sai?"

A clump blood splattered onto Itachi's back. With his cover already blown, he turned back into an enemy sound-nin.

"H-How did you even..."

"From the second you said you hadn't found any sound-nin, when even an academy ninja could've sensed such presence."

"I asked such a rhetorical question merely to check. Now, I will ask again, what have you done with my partner?"

"I ain't tellin' you shit!"

Itachi slid his sworn back into the compartment. "Then I'll just have to find him myself." He got out some rope and wrapped it around the sound-nin, he then lugged the sound-nin onto his back.

"Itachi!"

Itachi dropped the sound-nin and turned around to face his partner. "So you're back? Did you get the information you needed?"

Sai held up one of his rats. "Everything's complete," He walked up to Itachi. "basing from your condition, you've been ambushed?"

_'Yeas I can't tell, this Sai isn't an imposter.'_ "I have, but that's been settled. Shall we continue our search?"

"Of course."

"And from now on, I'm following to wherever you go."

OoO

Having a second bird already created, Itachi and Sai were back in the air in no time. After a while of flying, Sai spoke up. "Itachi. This is our last section, once we report back and you can do whatever you have-"

"There you are!"

Itachi held out his arm and a small, brown dog clamped onto it. "I've been searching for you all over Konoha."

"Hm? What's going on?" Sai asked.

"It's one of Kakashi's ninja dogs; Pakkun." He explained. "Can I ask, how well is the seventh division holding up?"

Pakkun stopped biting Itachi's arm and sat down on the bird. "First, you'll answer my question. I get that you're an Anbu now, but to leave without saying anything?"

"Someone kidnaped me and brought me elsewhere. I was then assigned a mission and I strictly followed said orders. Now can you answer my question?"

"When we couldn't find you, Naruto and Sakura assumed you'd died, so what they really need right now is for you to come."

"If that's the case, then Sai, you'll just have to complete this mission...without me."

"So you're just going to abandon the mission?"

"Well then..." Itachi stood up, he took off his Anbu mask, it made a soft noise as the mask settled down by his foot. "...you'll just have to call me scum."

"What are you even talking-"

Sai looked all the way back, Itachi and Pakkun were both suddenly gone,mthe only thing left was his Anbu mask. Sai picked it up the mask and held it in his hand. _'You know Itachi, you're a very interesting person. Looks like your story has only yet to unfold...__'_

XxxxxXxxx

_'...I remember how it was to be like you..'_

_'...I used to hate everyone, I couldn't understand who I was or why everyone hated me so much.'_

_'When I finally understood I had the nine-tails demon inside me, the villagers seemed even more hateful than ever. It was so...painful, it created a void.'_

_'But...'_

_'I remember all the people who've filled that void in my heart.'_

"Why do you even care, huh?! You're too perfect to even notice me!"

"Hm. That's strange because I always thought we were equals."

_'And now I have people who acknowledged my existence, it made me so happy. So now I don't care about all the cold stares I still get, because I'm not alone anymore! That pain I felt long ago...it kills me to think of how I used to be. And if I were still alone, if those people hadn't come into my life, then...I'd probably...I'd probably be just like...'_

_'You.'_

XxxxxXxxx

_'This is it! I just can't...I just can lose to this guy.' _Naruto got a kunai knife and wrapped a paper bomb around it, after that, he weaved several signs to his famous jutsu. "Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Naruto and four other shadow clones jumped off from the branch and formed a completely new tactic. "Let's do this! Brand new technique! UZUMAKI NARUTO: CLONE BODY SLAM!"

Gaara extended his claw and grabbed three of the clones. The last clone pulled up Naruto by the collar. "GET READY!" He then flung him at Gaara, Gaara used his other claw and reached for the incoming Naruto.

"One more time! Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Gaara's claw grabbed the clones while Naruto flipped to the back of Gaara, he gripped his kunai in hand. "KURAEE! HIDDEN LEAF ANCIENT TAIJUTSU SUPREME TECHNIQUE!" Naruto stuck his kunai in Gaara's one-tail covered butt. "1000 YEARS OF PAIN!"

"..."

"...shit."

Proving useless, Gaara swiped his tail at Naruto making him fly off. _'Boom.'_

The kunai planted in Gaara's butt exploded, hopefully destroying him once and for all. _'He went for my weak spot...this isn't good.'_

_'The only thing is...I'm going to hit this tree!'_ Just before Naruto could crash into a tree, however, he landed in someone's arms._ 'Huh? Who is this?'_

"Hey, Naruto. You did really good, huh?"

"...a...h..." Slowly, Naruto turned around. "...is it..."

"I'm really proud of you!"

Nothing could describe the feeling Naruto had, all of the sadness, his regrets, everything suddenly lifted. The person who he thought died was here right before him.

"Are you...crying?" Itachi asked.

"Shut the hell up!" Naruto quickly wiped the tears and snot off of his face. "You're a fucking idiot, Itachi!"

"Huh-"

Naruto gripped his fist and pounded Itachi in the stomach as hard as he could. "Don't ever do that to us again! You scared Sakura so much!"

"Naruto...both you and Sakura, I want you to run as far away as you can. I'll handle Gaara from now on because, if I'll never be able to live with myself if I lose everyone precious to me...again."

Itachi smiled. "You and Sakura are a vision of my dream, and that's something I wish to protect, no matter what happens."

(_"'My dream is to protect someone precious to me, I've always __believed you are strongest when you're fighting to protect someone precious.'"_)

(_"'Is that even a...question? You helped me realize who I was fighting for, Naruto. Team seven is precious to me! And now...I finally found a reason to live!'"_)

Itachi's bright smile was enough to give Naruto all the strength he needed. "I told you before, we are a team and we fight...TOGETHER!" A swirl of chakra formed around Naruto. "And now that we have each other to protect, we'll be at our strongest!"

"If that's how you truly feel, then I have the perfect strategy."

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

OoO

Sai went back to Danzo's office, all the sound-nin were at the interrogation corp and checked in. "Your mission, sir, has been fulfilled." He reported.

"...Why isn't Itachi present with you?"

"Because, Itachi of the Uchiha clan is...scum."

OoO

"Full power! Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Hundereds of clones surrounded Gaara, although the kunai weakened him, it wasn't enough to truly to beat him. Temari stared at Naruto in amazement. _'...how in the hell...'_

"Alright everyone! Let's do it!"

The clones jumped down at the same time to attack Gaara, one by one they battered down Gaara, beating him up like crazy. With one final punch Gaara lost it, Shukaku finally erupted from him and towered the forest.

_'Now that Gaara's gotten to his tailed beast form, it's time for me to begin.'_ Itachi disappeared into the forest.

Now that Shukaku was out, the second phase could begin. "..." _'Lets do it! Let's protect Sakura!'_

"Summoning technique!"

Under Naruto's feet, a giant red toad appeared, Gamabunta realized he was summoned and his giant yellow eyes peered on the small spiky blonde. "You again? Whaddya want?"

"Yeah! It worked! Hehehe!"

Gamabunta's eyes now laid on Shukaku. _'Whoa...that's...hm, I remember this guy. Shukaku of the sands, right?'_

Shukaku swayed his tail.** _'This Uzumaki kid sure is the character. What a fun guy!'_**

"Alright! Come on out, Itachi!"

Out of nowhere, Itachi came out of what was left of the forest and landed onto Gamabunta's head. "What in the...another runt, who are you?!"

"My name is Itachi Uchiha."

"Oh, Fugaku's kid, huh? What's up?"

"I'll tell ya' what's up!" Naruto smashed a fist into his palm. "We're going to beat the crap out of this guy!"

"...I ain't doin' that."

"WHAT?! But wh-why?!

"Last time we met, you said you're making me _your_ underling! A boss' someone who helps an underling when _he's_ in trouble, not the other way around!"

"I mean, you could've been my underling, and all, but we haven't really exchanged Sakazuki yet so..."

"But-but, I can't drink Sake, I'm not 20 yet!"

Unexpectedly, Gamakichi hopped on and plopped onto Naruto's spiky blonde hair. "Oi pops, just hear the little guy out for a sec', after all I was saved by 'em!"

_'Did he just say...pops?!'_

"Gamakichi?! What're you doing 'ere?"

"Long story short, I wanted to have some fun, but then this weird ol' raccoon guy comes along, and he bullies me around."

"In that case...hey, I'll tell you what., Naruto, how 'bout I let you become my grunt and I'll teach you all about the family."

"Whoa! So he's really your pops?!"

"Yup!"

"Alright then," Gamabunta clamped on his pipe. "Let me in on this plan of yours, Lil' Itachi."

OoO

_'Itachi's training was useless for me, huh? After all of that, I'm still here while Naruto still protects me.'_ A mass of thoughts had collected and swarmed in Sakura's mind. _'Your only wish was to protect me, that's why you trained me, didn't you? Even after you've died, I still can't even do that for you.'_

_'When Pakkun had told us you're chakra disappeared suddenly Naruto and I were more than just devastated. We couldn't believe, after everything, you died on us, my mind had completely stopped. Now that you're gone, I don't even know how we can go back to the way things were. I don't even know if I can go back to normal.'_

OoO

_'Please forgive me. Just once more, I'll use your power...Shisu.' _Gamabunta jumped towards Shukaku, he got out his katana and held the blade near Itachi. "You ready?"

"Amaterasu!" Mystical black fire spewed out of Itachi's mouth and cloaked Gamabunta's sword.

"Toad's blade: Black fire slash!"

Just barely, the blade missed and merely etched a proportion of Shukaku's body. '_This one-tails is good...'_

**_'Heh, he barely even scratched me what a-'_** Seconds later, the black flames engulfed Shukaku's tail.** "Holy fuck!" **He tried putting out the flames with his claw, but rather he just lit his claw on fire. **"...! The hell?!"**

"The Amaterasu Flames can never be put out unless by user's command."

**"Then I just have to give it up." **Before the fire spread too far, Shukaku's tail and arm simply fell off. _'...looks like I'll have to live without that for a while.'_** "This has been a blast so far!" **Gaara held a still hand sign while he rose from the one-tails' head. "You have my thanks, I've been entertained for the most part."

_'So he's out already? Then it's time for the last step.' _A giant orange skeleton built up around Itachi and formed a humanoid creature.

"Spell of the fake sleep!"

Gaara passed out and the tailed beast took full control. **"Yahoo! Time to party!" **Shukaku cracked opened his jaw and bent down, a ball of chakra began forming.

Naruto squinted his eyes at the raccoon. "What's he doing?!"

"Tailed beast bomb. Hold on tight, we're going to jump!"

"Ok!" Naruto pointed to a section left of them. "Just don't land near Sakura-chan!"

_'Sakura...chan?'_

"Hey pops, that's the kid's number one!" Gamakichi explained.

"...huh? Well, if you say so. Let's go!"

Gamabunta pushed himself up into the air, just dodging the tailed beast down. Whisk in mid-air, Itachi loosened his fingers, releasing the arrow. His arrow glided through the air, it pierced straight through Shukaku and the lower half of him exploded.

**"WHAAAAAAAAAT?"**

Making sure to miss Sakura, Gamabunta landed behind Shukaku.

Itachi stood up. "I'm going to get Sakura and get rid of the black flames, you two finish it up from here."

"Wha- how?!"

"We'll pin him down using a transformation technique so you can get close enough to personally deal with that brat."

"Pin him down?!"

"I'm just a toad so I can't personally do that, but something with fangs and claws could." Gamabunta started propelling towards Shukaku. "I'm not so hot with transforming techniques, so I'll lend you my chakra and you'll be will!"

Naruto got into position. "Something with fangs and claws like ummm, maybe like an...ummm."

"Here we go!"

Gamabunta turned into the nine-tails fox demon; Kurama. He used his giant jaw and clamped down into what was left of Shukaku's body. Using his claws, he grabbed the one-tails and pinned him to the ground.

"GO NARUTO, NOW!"

OoO

Itachi found Sakura restrained to a tree by Gaara's claw. Just as he was about to pull out his sword, the sand fell apart on its own, signifying Naruto had beaten Gaara. _'For the most part...Sakura seems ok.' _Itachi picked up Sakura and held her close to him, despite being unconscious, her lips curled up the instant she fell into his arms. "Sakura...-"

"Hey Itachi!" Pakkun came out of nowhere and landed on the tree limb they were on. "The battle, it's finally over, Naruto beat Gaara!"

OoO

Gaara and Naruto were directly across from each other both completely exhausted, and beaten to a pulp. Neither could lift a finger.

"Naruto. That's enough."

Slightly turning his head, he saw Itachi's feet.

"Sakura's ok, Naruto. She's ok because of you."

"Is that...so?"

Temari and Kankurō as well appeared, they guarded Gaara in a last attempt to protect their little brother.

Gaara heavily sighed. "No...that's enough."

Kankurō looked back at Gaara._ 'I never seen Gaara so beaten up like this before.'_ "I understand." He picked up Gaara and placed him on his back. "Let's go." Him and Temari jumped away silently.

"Temari...Kankurō."

"Yea, Gaara?"

"Thank you for...everything."

"O-oh no problem!"

"Yeah!"

OoO

Itachi pulled Naruto up heaved him onto his back, without much struggle, he went off to get Sakura.

"...Hey Itachi..." Naruto suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"I'm really...I-I'm really happy you...came!"

"Stop talking, you're wasting chakra."

"No, I just want you to know...that I'm really happy because when you came...I was so much stronger and you helped me protect...Sakura. You're-!"

"Just rest, Naruto." _'Everything I've done has only made them grow closer to me...I have to...stop that.'_

* * *

A/N: This chapter so far's been a blast to write, next chapter I can finally take off to my favorite arc of part 1!


	14. Chapter 14: What's left of us

**Recap:** Itachi and Sai get paired up together for their first Anbu mission, however, it ends shortly when Itachi decides it's best to support his team. Meanwhile, Naruto successfully beats Gaara and invasion: Destroy Konoha comes to a close.

* * *

Chapter 15: What's left of us

"Are we back here again for another one of your monthly checkups?"

"No."

"Then there's nothing to see here, really, wouldn't you like to destroy something when it's at best condition? It would be more fulfilling."

"Without that old man Hokage around, destroying this place, even at its best condition, would be simple."

"But the one-tails Jinchuriki is no longer present, are you perhaps just wanting a visit?"

"For once, this isn't about me wanting to destroy the village, I have a plan in mind."

XxxxxXxxx

_A tree, even the greatest, will soon one day perish, and the seeds that fell from that once great tree will all grow even more greater than the tree once before. Only the will passed on from that great tree can determine whether its seeds grow in the light or in the dark. _

Rain quietly descended from the sky as the shinobi, clad in black, surrounded Hizuren Sarutobi's memorial.

OoO

A bouquet of soaked flowers laid silently on a grave.

Someone walked up to the bouquet of flowers, without any consent, he smashed the bouquet with his foot. "Even in death you're still so damn annoying. The only thing I thought of you was a disgrace to our clan..._Shisu_."

OoO

Naruto stared, empty-eyed at the Third's coffin. "...Iruka-sensei...what are...humans? Is this just it? Is that all there is to life?"

"When a person dies, no matter what time period, they lose everything. The Third Hoakge died fighting in a mission, death caught him by surprise only because...life's just that simple."

_'Do you blame me for your death...Hizuren-san? Because...' _Itachi clenched his fist. _'...I blame everything on my behalf. I'm fated to bring this village only...destruction.'_

OoO

_Hokage..._

_Even though it's still small...The will of fire shines brightly wherever it goes, as it protects the village and the ninjas that head into a bright new future. Even in the darkest of places, the will of fire will always stay bright!_

XxxxxXxxx

Orochimaru clenched the arms of his chair so hard a piece snapped off. "That bastard...Sarutobi..."

"Well, it definitely wasn't going to be as simple as you thought." Kabuto said. "It's said he's the strongest out of all the five kage, however, you still killed two out of the five-"

"Stop trying to comfort me or...I'll _kill_ you."

"..."

"...that wasn't my intention, but I have to ask you, what are your plans for Itachi Uchiha? He has yet to obtain the curse mark."

"Actually, we're getting help from a third party."

"A third party?"

"Yes. Sasuke of the Akatsuki has agreed to come into a short partnership with us."

XxxxxXxxx

Today was another average day in Konoha, Kakashi leaned back one of the building frames as Asuma and Kurenai walked together down the streets.

"Oh! You guys look good together." Kakashi commented. "Are you two on a date?"

Kurenai became very flustered. "Idiot! I just came up to pick up something from Anko."

"And what about you?" Asuma asked. "Here to pick up something too?"

"Not really. I'm just waiting for Itachi."

_"So am I."_

Kakashi glanced back to the stand behind them. _'I could've sworn I heard someone.' _

_'...who was that just now.'_ Asuma lightly tapped his cigarette. "You waiting for someone? That's quite rare."

Itachi finally approached Kakashi. "Interesting, you're here first? That's something new."

"Well...sometimes, but um for the most part..."

*clank*

"...that was...strange."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "...Yeah."

OoO

Jiraiya walked into the ramen stand where Naruto, as usual, was slurping on some ramen. "So I've heard you always come here, guess it's true, huh?"

Hearing that voice almost made Naruto spit out his noodles. "P-pervert sage?!"

OoO

Asuma and Kurenai had ended up in the abandoned parts of the village, once a place where Uchiha flourished, now, only a dump. "What're you doing here?"

Kurenai instinctively flipped out a kunai knife. "Who are you?!"

Two feet appeared on top of the brown fence leading to Uchiha town, surprisingly it was Itachi of all people who had come. "...you're here to investigate, correct?"

She caught sight of Itachi and relaxed her threatening posture. "Oh it's only...you."

"I'm actually glad you two dolts are here, Kurenai and Asuma." Itachi walked off of the fence.

Asuma's eyes narrowed. "Well, well, have you ever heard of 'respecting your elders'?"

"And why must I respect someone little shits below me?"

"Seems like you're not acting like yourself today, Itachi."

Itachi placed one hand on his head and right before their eyes, he turned into someone completely different. This person wore a long black cloak and under his hand now lay a conical hat, he titled up the hat, revealing his true identity.

"...! It's you!"

"Sasuke Uchiha!"

Sasuke turned around to the abandoned town while weaving several signs. "Fire release: Great fireball technique!" A monstrous amount of fire spewed from Sasuke's mouth and collected into a gigantic fiery ball.

Asuma got out his chakra blades. "What're you doing?!"

"I'm going to destroy what's left of this dump."

Asuma ran up to Sasuke, he reeled back his arm, a giant, bandaged sword came out from nowhere and protected Sasuke. "I guess you're right, Sasuke. The leaf absolutely despises you."

"I'm Kisame Hoshigaki, now all of us are acquainted."

"Kisame, you're right on time."

"Sasuke Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki." Asuma said aloud. "Both S-class criminals in the bingo book, tell me, why're you here of all times? You sure have the guts to come back after what you did after all."

"I told you," Sasuke kicked the fireball and it obliterated a large chunk of Uchiha town, beyond the gates, blazing high fire climbed the sky and touched the clouds. "To destroy this dump."

"After what you did, you're still not done terrorizing the Uchiha clan?!" Right behind Sasuke, a tree sprouted from the ground and its branches wrapped around him.

"I knew you'd use this against me. I'm not a genjutsu user myself, but..." Sasuke took out a kunai knife and stuck it through his palm, ultimately freeing him. "...that was such a petty trick."

"Kisame, can you deal with these annoying worms for me? I rather for them not to be killed, but you won't be punished if you do." Sasuke disappeared into the burning Uchiha town to destroy what little remained of it.

"Oh, that'll be quite the challenge."

Barely, Kurenai staggered up from the ground, without her even noticing, Sasuke placed an explosive tag on her. "You're not getting away Sas-" Another shinobi stood in front of her. "No. I'll go after him."

"Kakashi?!"

Asuma dodged Kisame's swing of his sword. "You just got here, huh?"

"No, I've been here."

"I see, you used a clone."

Kakashi held up a kunai knife. "Just stay back, both of you. I'm not going to let, Sasuke destroy that town!"

OoO

Naruto entered the old training field where Team 7 had their survival exam, for some reason or another, Itachi called him and Sakura to tell them something important.

"...oh hey!" Naruto ran up to the post where Sakura and Itachi were standing by. "Guess what?! I'm going with Pervert sage on a mission!"

Itachi smiled. "Is that so? When are you leaving?"

"Today! I just gotta pack up my stuff," Naruto lazily put his hands behind his head. "So uh, what's up, whaddya want to tell us?"

"From now on...I'll no longer be associated with you guys."

Naruto's grin dropped. "What?"

"I am not apart of Team seven."

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes, while Naruto's face twisted with anger, but, Itachi's face was always, empty.

Naruto's fist tightened with complete rage, his arm jerked back, ready to punch the sense into him. "DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT TEAM SEVEN?!"

Itachi effortlessly caught Naruto's punch. "No."

"Then...why'd you stay in our team so long?!"

"The only reason why I stayed with Team seven for so long was to see for myself how strong you were, and from that experience alone, I now know both of you are inferior, and useless."

Naruto caught a glimpse of the absolute pain in Sakura's face, his hands dropped to tej side of him and the anger he had eased up. "Oh yeah right! You're just a really bad liar, huh? Come on don't be an-"

"Everything I've said to you up to this point were all lies. You two are nothing but pieces of trash to me."

"Because, _the_ _last_ _thing I care_ _about_ is Team seven."

Itachi pulled out a new mask and quickly left, leaving them in shambles.

At that point, everything fell apart. Sakura completely broke down and fell down, sobbing.

"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto bent down to her level. "It's ok, Itachi still cares about us, he's just being a...loser right now."

"Don't be so oblivious," Sakura lifted her head up, she was drained of emotion. "you heard _him_."

Naruto forced a smile just for her. "I know Itachi can be a little cold sometimes, but, he's only trying to protect us."

Sakura pushed Naruto away and he stumbled onto the ground. "HOW CAN HE PROTECT ME IF HE ISN'T IN TEAM SEVEN ANYMORE?!"

"...you know why Itachi trained you?" Naruto clenched the dirt, the anger in him started bubbling up again. "SO YOU COULD FIGHT AND NOT CRY ALL THE TIME!"

"All this time, you believed Itachi fought to protect _only_ you?! He for his own dream and his dream has always been..._all of us_!"

(_"'You and Sakura are a vision of my dream, and that's something I wish to protect, no matter what happens.'"_)

Sakura leaned on Naruto and cried on his shoulder. "It stil...hurts."

Naruto stood up. "...Itachi, why are you so distant from us? We're your friends after all, just let us..."

OoO

Itachi stopped on the roof of a building, he punched the roof as tears poured down his face.

OoO

"...help you for once, Itachi. We'll carry your burdens...together."

XxxxxXxxx

Sasuke's katana clashed with Kakashi's kunai. "So the rumors were true, Obito did give you his sharigan." His eyes flickered to the Mangeykō sharigan. "Then let me show you the eye prowess of a real Uchiha!"

OoO

Seeing the large fires ascend the sky, Itachi decided to see what was going on. He ran over to the abandoned parts of the village, where the Uchiha town used to lay. "...!" Itachi ran up, the entire place was in ashes, everything burnt to the ground.

Nothing remained. Itachi bent down and picked up a cluster of ash. "Everything representing the Uchiha clan is now gone..." Itachi walked through the piles of ash. "And yet...I still have no hate for you..."

OoO

"That was very disgusting you did to him, Sasuke."

"Just shut up."

After fulfilling their purpose, Sasuke and Kisame were just beyond the village of Konohagakure. "What I am doing is all for the better good, you'll see someday."

"Well in any case, it's good that we found him at that ramen shop, however, he's protected by one of the legendary sanin. He'll be quite a match for the Leaf's number one and the strongest of Mist's seven."

"He won't even be a 'match', we can easily defeat him and the old toad man before they even know what hit them, but that's not my main objective."

"Hm?"

"It's just our luck Orochimaru's in the general area of our target, the only real challenge will be to get my brother to Orochimaru. Fortunately, I have a perfect plan."

"I see, but I still don't know why you would burn down something of the Uchiha. What was your motive for that."

"Uchiha town is only pieces of wood stacked together, that place is _the_ _last_ _thing_ _I_ _care_ _about_."

* * *

Itachi reported in Danzo's office, although, since the Hokage's death, the Anbu were for the most, part out of commission. "Itachi Uchiha, until Jiraiya finds the next Hokage, you are assigned to the Root division of Anbu."

"Understood."

"Your new mission as Root is to search for any remains of Orochimaru and any Otogakure shinobi. You will dispatch with a personalized Anbu team immediately."

"Searching for Orochimaru, as in...out of the village?"

"If need be."

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

After Kakashi's fight with Sasuke he had been rushed into the hospital, his condition was critical. Asuma, Guy, and Kurenai were all in Kakashi's room, discussing the events that occurred. "It's good he hasn't found Naruto just yet."

"Yeah," Asuma took a seat on one of the chairs. "But what he did was unforgivable. I don't understand why he would do something to his own home."

"Sasuke already knows what Naruto looks like, and he stands out quite a bit, so it'll be pretty easy to find-"

"Shhh." Guy cut off.

The door creaked open and Itachi poked his head in. "Kakashi-san..." Itachi walked up to Kakashi and examined him, he was beaten up pretty badly. "...what happened?"

"Kakashi was in a...fire." Guy chose his word carefully. "A certain...person nearly burned him to death."

"...It was Sasuke, wasn't it?"

_'How did he know?' _"..."

"Those weren't normal flames used on Kakashi-san, and to be frank, I'm not even sure if he'll live."

"What're you talking about?"

"My brother...he's so...reckless."

The door swung wide open. "Is it true?! Sasuke of the Uchiha clan has returned and he's chasing down Naruto?!" Aoba Yamashiro yelled.

"Idiot." Kurenai scoffed.

_'That means...Sasuke burning down Uchiha town wasn't his only objective...he's going to chase down Naruto?'_

(_"'From now on...I'll no longer be associated with you guys.'"_)

_'Even if he is, I can't be bothered with them anymore, I'm an...Anbu now. Even if I go there to help...I'll just...get in the way...'_

XxxxxXxxx

"Are you having turmoil, Itachi?"

"Danzo-san, shouldn't we be more worried about Sasuke and less on Orochimaru? He is more of a threat."

"You aren't a part of Team seven any longer, you're an Anbu now and your objective is to search for Orochimaru."

"I assume you are correct, it's only selfish of me to put my needs before Konoha, but if the Jinchuriki is killed-"

"That excuse is useless!" Danzo smashed his cane on the ground. "It's been decided, you cannot come into contact with your brother."

(_"'I'm really...I-I'm really happy you...came!'"_)

(_"'...Do you know how much it hurts me__ to see you like...this?'"_)

"...I..."

(_"'I protect you because...because...you and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei, all of you are precious to me!'"_)

"...decline your mission."

"What're you talking about?"

"What matters most is the absolute survival of our Jinchuriki, if he were to die and be handed over to another nation, Konoha will cease to exist, especially without a current Hokage."

Itachi ran out of Danzo's and went straight to the Ramen Ichiraku where Teuchi, the owner of the shop, was busy cleaning out the piles and piles of bowls from Naruto's recent visit.

"Teuchi-san!"

"Oh Itachi, I don't think you've ever-"

"Please tell me, do you perhaps know where Naruto and Jiraiya-sama went?"

"Well...I heard they were going to take the cattle-road down to some hotel town or something and-"

"Arigato gozaimasu." Itachi turned around and left.

"Wha-hey wait!"

"Sumimasen deshita!" He called out.

"...damn. I just can't stay mad at him, oh what's this..." Teuchi picked up a wad of cash. "He left some money!"

OoO

"I want you to go after Itachi and make sure he doesn't come into contact with Sasuke."

"Yes Danzo-sir, I promise not to fail you."

OoO

Naruto and Jiraiya finally entered their designated town, with a festival going on, lanterns were just about everywhere. They made their way inside a cheap hotel. "Man, this place sure is strange."

"Well get used to it," Jiraiya swung the room key around his finger. "Because this where we're staying."

A hot woman walked past, making them both go nuts.

_'I feel this overpowering sensation...' _Jiraiya jumped over to Naruto. "Naruto!"

"Huh?"

He plopped the room key in Naruto's palms. "There's the room key, go to the room and refine your chakra as training."

"What?! I know what you're trying to do, pervert sage!"

OoO

Itachi entered the town where Naruto and Jiraiya happened to be. _'I'm finally here...'_

OoO

"Stupid pervert sage!" Naruto collapsed on his bed. "He's always putting off my training for some hot lady, I'll never get better than Itachi at this rate."

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

Naruto dragged himself off the bed and got out the room. "Yeesh, I'm coming already!"

"I don't have time for you to be taking your sweet-ass time."

"...wh-what?" _'What's up with pervert sage's voice?' _

OoO

Itachi knocked first, then opened the door to a random room. "Naruto! Are yo-" Sasuke approached him, he didn't have on a cloak as before, but instead Anbu uniform.

"Hello little brother."

OoO

The door burned down before Naruto could reach it. "Pervert sage...you can use fire jutsu?!" When the fire cleared away, Naruto saw who it really was. "Wait...you're not pervert sage are you Ita-"

_'He isn't Itachi, but he has the sharigan just like Itachi!'_

Sasuke along with his partner Kisame stared down Naruto. "Why does he have such a stupid face on?"

"Who knows." Kisame glanced at Naruto. "_This_ is where the nine-tails fox demon resides, huh."

_'They...they know about that?!'_

"Your one of Itachi's friends, right? The weak one? How about you come with us now so I won't have to beat you up."

OoO

Sasuke lunged for Itachi and grabbed him. "Your diguise is heavily inaccurate."

"It doesn't matter." Sasuke changed into Sai of all people. "I caught you Itachi; scum of the leaf."

Itachi's body burst into a flock of ravens._ '...damn it, I got tricked.' _Sai released the genjutsu and he chased after Itachi. "I won't fail you, Danzo-"

Sai collapsed on the floor. _'Looks like I got more than just tricked...'_

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

"Nii-san!"

Sasuke looked back as his younger brother ran up to him. "Hey weasel, what's up?"

Itachi held up shuriken between his fingers. "I just taught myself a shuriken technique."

A vein popped on the side of Sasuke's forehead. "What?! Already?! I was supposed to teach you that!"

"You can teach me something next time."

"..."

"Heh...you're growing much more mature, huh, Itachi? I hear they're already promoting for you to become a genin, and at such a young age. I really wish I had more ti-" Itachi poked Sasuke on the forehead. "...!"

"I'm always up for learning from you!"

Sasuke pushed Itachi away and quickly stood up. "Can you just...shut up for once?"

OoO

Itachi slumped in a chair at the kitchen table, while his mother prepared him lunch. "Father, why is Sasuke so distant from everyone, especially...me?"

"...Sasuke is a very cold person and prefers to keep others away from him, especially those he likes the most. Even as a father, though I try, I could never understand him..."

_'What brother needs someone to work off of, he needs someone to rival him so he can strive to be his best, and...'_ Itachi thoughts trailed off._ 'Ever since Shisu-san died, Sasuke's hasn't been the same.'_

"Itachi dear, your lunch is ready!"

Itachi grabbed his lunch and walked out of the door. "Thank-you."

XxxxxXxxx

Sasuke moved out of the way. "Come out of that room." He demanded.

_'...jeez, what a creepy bastard.' _Naruto slowly walked out.

_'He isn't here yet.'_

Kisame put one hand on his sword. "Let's get started already, shall I cut off his legs, he won't run that way."

"That's fine."

He took out his giant sword and swung it at Naruto, just barely him, Itachi ran up to them and blocked the attack using his leg. "You have to run away."

"Itachi! I thought you-"

He shook his head and turned his attention to Sasuke. "...What was your reason for burning it down, Sasuke Uchiha?"

_'Uchiha?! Just like Itachi...'_ Naruto stared at Sasuke. _'Who are these people?'_

"Is this him, Sasuke?" Kisame asked. "Your disposed younger brother you always talk about?"

"...he once was my brother, but now he is nothing."

_'Y-younger brother?! How come they're treating each other like strangers?'_

"You hadn't told me, but I heard you wiped out the entire Uchiha clan in one night."

"You're right again."

_'This entire time, this is what Itachi's been going through? He never once told us, is this why he's so quiet all the time?'_

(_"'I'll never be able to live with myself if I lose everyone precious to me...again.'"_)

_'This entire time...that's why...this was his...'_

_'Life.'_

"You asked me earlier why I burned down Uchiha town, correct?" Sasuke suddenly said. "I did purely for my enjoyment."

"..."

"Do you hate me now, Itachi? Do you hate me now that I've burned what was left our clan to the ground?! It's gone now! Everything is truly gone."

"You're a...horrible liar, Sasuke."

"What? Everything I've done up to this point were all to hurt you. You are nothing but a piece of trash to me."

"Buildings don't matter. You can burn down everything related to our clan, but...you can't burn down the memories and the happiness we've shared."

"I can't end up hating you, even if I'm only a piece of trash, somehow, you never end up throwing me away."

(_"'Older brother! I want you teach me, it'll be so fun.'"_)

(_"'Older brother! They said I could already graduate to genin if I wanted to, should I consider?'")_

(_"'Older brother...I hope you get better soon.'"_)

(_"'Older brother, I love you.'"_)

"Then...what if I burned down all of your friends? YOU'LL STILL HAVE MEMORIES AND HAPPINESS OF THEM WON'T YOU?!"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled. "After all the bullshit you gave to Itachi, he still has the guts to say he doesn't hate you...he still doesn't hate a bastard like you!"

Itachi clenched his fist. "Stay out of this, Naruto. My brother isn't of your concern."

"My only reason for living used to be for killing you, Sasuke. That's what you wanted, but now I've found people to live for. I can't allow you to harm them, that's why, I've grown strong, because they are my only purpose."

"..."

"Shisu-san taught me that, he was there for me, when you _weren't_."

"...DON'T EVER BRING UP THAT FUCKING BASTARD!" Sasuke weaved several signs. "I'll just make you...HAVE HATE!"

Kisame found it a good time to step in. "Sasuke, don't you think you're being a bit too emotional? We should take the fox brat and leave."

Sasuke sighed, his shoulders sank. "You're right."

Itachi got a kunai knife. "Naruto, please, run away."

"I'm not gonna sit back and watch you suffer anymore!" Naruto got into position, he prepared a jutsu as chakra surrounded him. "Even if we're not teammates, we're still friends!"

_'I see it. His nine-tails chakra is filling up the room...how scary.' _Kisame slashed the chakra. "Oh, too bad."

_'What?! I don't feel any chakra!' _"...the hell's going on?!"

"My Samehada _eats_ chakra."

With a kunai in hand, Sasuke moved in on Naruto. "Even if I can't kill you, Naruto. I'll beat you up so bad, you wish you were dead!"

Itachi reflected Sasuke with a kunai of his own. "You won't harm him." Sasuke dig his kunai knife into Itachi's arm and pushed it through his flesh as hard as he could.

_'I've finally prepared my ultimate genjutsu, even if for a second, I'll have to use it.'_

"You're in my wa-"

Itachi's arm burst into ravens, seeing this, Sasuke released the genjutsu, once the genjutsu was released, however, he found himself pinned to a stake. The room now had an eerie, blood red tint to it.

_'...the hell...?'_

Itachi came into view, the closer he got to Sasuke, the more he saw Itachi's weapon. A sleek, black katana pierced straight through. With one, came even more katana that stuck in every direction from his body.

_'He's using Tsukuyomi, huh?'_ "What a foolish move."

Sasuke, again, released the genjutsu, but this time he was in a toad's mouth. "...This must be Jiraiya's doing. Took him long enough to figure out that little 'distraction'."

"Oh good, you're finally awake, Sasuke. Do you know how tedious it was to protect you this entire time."

"Entire time?"

"You were out for two minutes at most."

Sasuke saw Itachi on the floor. "...what happened to Itachi?"

"After he used that genjutsu, he collapsed, it used way too much chakra. I believe he's been preparing that jutsu for the longest time."

"You're not taking Naruto away!" Jiraiya yelled.

"Forget it. We're not taking Naruto away if that's what you're thinking."

"Wait, what?"

Sasuke picked Itachi up. "Let's go, Kisame!"

"Itachi!" Naruto ran after them despite the walls closing in. "Come back! Put him down!"

Kisame followed Sasuke through the flesh covered walls._ 'The walls are closing in on us, at this rate, we'll...'_

"Amaterasu!"

The black flames covered the toad's mouth and burned through an opening.

"Let's go!"

Once Naruto finally caught up, there was no trace of them left, only a large opening covered with wild black flames. _'Don't worry, I'll save ya'!' _Just before he was about to jump out of the opening, Jiraiya stopped him. "Naruto, you don't even know where they are, you can't possibly go after them."

"I don't care! I'll search every corner if I have to! We have to find the black cloaked guys, we can't just let them murder more clans in one night!"

"And if you do find them, how do you expect to fight them? You're weak."

"We can search together!"

"How? Like I said, I have no idea where they are."

"..."

Jiraiya examined the black flames. _'What interesting fire, how on earth did they make it so...black? Where'd they even draw this from? His power is absolutely terrifying.' _Jiraiya bent down, he took out a scroll and paint brush._ 'Gamabunta told me Itachi used the exact same power, so could it be an Uchiha clan only technique?'_

"Sealing technique: Seal fire highest rank!" The flames sucked into Jiraiya's scroll, he stomped one foot on the flesh and it disappeared. "Alright!"

"..."

"Hey Naruto, it's fine. Itachi'll be ok."

"How do you know that?! Sasuke's a murderer!"

"It's just a guess, but Sasuke had never once tried to kill his brother, I believe even someone as horrible as Sasuke still cares for his younger brother. So what do you say, shall we continue the training?"

"Fine." Naruto's hands tightened into a fist. "But as soon as I become stronger, I'm going to find Itachi."

"Actually, you won't have to." A giant white bird flew over them and through the opening.

"Huh?! What's that?! Who's that guy?"

_'I've already promised to bring Itachi back to Danzo and I won't give up.'_

* * *

A/N: Before it gets too confusing, I would like to clarify the use of first and last names

Usually I'll write, for example: "Itachi Uchiha" whenever referring to themselves or to others or when someone else refers to them

But whenever introducing themselves to a formidable opponent/an enemy I switch it to "Uchiha Itachi" that's just used as a warning sign, like, this is my clan and you should be aware.


	15. Chapter 15: (For you)

**Recap: **After the death of the Third Hokage, Sasuke makes his move on Konoha by burning down the abandoned Uchiha town.

Next, Jiraiya and Naruto set off to find the Fifth Hokage, they stop in a strange town where Naruto meets Itachi's evil older brother; Sasuke. Sasuke and Kisame take Itachi captive and its up to Sai to rescue him.

* * *

Chapter 16: (For you)

_'With the tracking device I put on Itachi when I grabbed him earlier, I thought it would be easy to find him,__ but...at this rate...I highly doubt I'll ever find him...'_

Sai's bird flew silently in the dead, blank night. After tireless hours of scouring the town and even beyond that, there was yet to be any sign of Itachi.

_'Just my luck, a teashop, perhaps I can ask the shop owner if he's seen Itachi.'_

OoO

*ring*

The shopowner looked up, she could hear the violent moans of the floorboards as a strange boy walked towards the counter. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Have you seen someone about my age around here? He's an Anbu with this weird, black cone shirt thing and there's also these unexplainable lines on his face." Sai explained.

"You know what? I have." The shopowner bent behind the counter and pulled out a photograph. "He told me he was going to the next town."

Sai blankly stared at the given photograph, sure he had lines on his face and a black, high-collar shirt, but he was in no way resemblance of Itachi whatsoever.

"Is this who you're looking for?"

Without uttering a single word, Sai turned around and made his way back to the door.

"Wait up! If that's not him, can you at least buy some tea, it's a cold night!"

Sai's hand rested on the aluminum doorknob, it was pretty chilly after all. "If I get tea from you, my drink will only be spoiled from looking at your ugly looking face."

"What the, DAMN BRAT! DON'T EVER COMEBACK!"

Sai gave her a rather plastic looking smile, and slowly shut the door. "_Gladly_."

OoO

"Super beast imitating drawing technique!"

Rain drops bounced off of Sai's ink umbrella and shielded him from the heavy downpour. _'I can't see anything with all this rain and I'm not sure when it'll let up.'_

"...!" Sai's bird fluttered down then landed near a lifeless body and examined the soaked body. "I can definitely feel a trace of your chakra, Itachi, the problem is," Sai heaved Itachi's body onto the bird. "We have no shelter."

Just as Sai's bird was about to take off, a certain someone approached them.

"Hey kid!"

Sai slightly turned around. "...It's you, again."

"The person who you described earlier, he's Itachi Uchiha, am I correct?"

"I don't recall ever telling you his name."

"Just come follow me back to my shop," She offered. "I'll tell you everything there."

"...you said I couldn't come back."

"I change my mind."

Sai picked up Itachi and followed the shopowner back to her tea shop, once they got inside, the shopowner hurried to get some towels while Sai set Itachi down in a chair.

After a while, the shopowner came back and approached their table with a steaming kettle of tea in hand and a dry towel in the other.

"Tell me your relationship with Itachi." Sai suddenly said.

"His older brother, Sasuke, used to come over here all the time when he was young. Oh, I remember those lovely days, all the time he'd tell me about his fascinating stories and about his younger brother. Sasuke was always such a sweet boy back then."

"Well, I don't know very much about Sasuke, but I don't think he would come to a tea shop just for storytelling."_ 'And I also don't imagine Sasuke ever being a sweet boy.' _

"But that's not the only reason he came here, I also used to serve his favorite food; nattō. In fact, I still do today. Would you like a plate?"

_'Why is she being so nice to me all of a sudden?'_ "If you insist."

The shopowner nodded and left.

"...I have a feeling she likes children a bit too much," Sai gazed at Itachi, he was still knocked out. "It's best to watch what I'm eating before and make sure she didn't drug the food so I lose something important."

"..."

"Itachi?"

Itachi suddenly woke up, he struggled getting out of his chair and was forced to use the table to support himself from falling.

"Itachi, you're awake?"

"We have to...leave, now."

"You're to weak to go anywhere, we can't-"

"We have to. My brother..._hates_...nattō."

Before they could take any action, a long neck shot out from behind the counter and lunged for Itachi. Quickly, Sai grabbed Itachi letting the neck crash through the wall.

Despite being dangerously near one of the most dangerous shinobi of the leaf, Sai kept a calm, blankless face and spoke as if it was nothing. "Who is that?"

"It's Orochimaru."

"That's unfortunate."

The wrinkly, saggy pieces of the old shop keeper's skin came flying all over the place as the neck began reeling back from the wall. "That plan failed miserably." Ororchimaru inquired. "But I won't let them escape!"

Sai sprinted as fast as possible with Itachi on his back._ 'There it is!' _Once he finally reached his newly-made bird, he set Itachi in the back and the bird took off.

"I think we're safe from-"

Orochimaru's neck sliced straight through the middle of the bird and it fell apart. With Itachi falling defenselessly, he lunged for Itachi's neck and sunk his fangs into his soft flesh just slowly enough to savor every morsel of flesh.

Seconds after he clamped on, Itachi turned into a block of wood. _'Substitution technique...Wait, there's a paper bomb attached to it!'_

*BOOM*

The real Sai and Itachi took off from the surrounding forest. "That should keep him busy."

OoO

It took a while, but finally they reached a safe enough disgrace from the tea shop. As they headed back to the hotel, Sai scribbled something down onto his scroll. _'Mission to find Orochimaru and capture Itachi is all the more a complete success. Although Itachi did however come into contact with Sasuke Uchiha, to my knowledge, he hasn't obtained the curse mark.'_ "Super beast imitating drawing!" The characters on Sai's scroll formed into a small black bird and flew off.

XxxxxXxxx

Blinding sun rays passed through the musty window, filling up the hotel room and giving it a new, soft, white glow. For the past two days, Itachi was in bed, recovering from his latest encounter with Sasuke.

Itachi peered at the door as it suddenly creaked open, as he expected, Sai walked inside their hotel room holding a platter of piping hot green tea. "Are you thirsty?"

"..."

"Guess not." Sai set the platter down on a nightstand by Itachi. "Well, I'll leave it here for when you are."

Sai took a seat in one of the chairs by the murky window, he got out a scroll and unraveled it. "Now that you're awake, can you tell me why you were left on the ground? Did your brother just drop you or did you escape?"

_'Even distancing myself, I still can't help it to protect them. All of this...just having myself inserted into their lives, my mere existence is hurting them and even if I leave the village, he'll still chase after me...' _"It must of been apart if they're plan, my brother must have planned every step since the beginning. Let's leave now, my body's healed itself already."

"You're rushing your recovery just so you can check up on your friend?"

"I have no interest in him whatsoever."

"Now you're in denial."

"Hm?"

"I see, that must be the type of man you are. I won't judge you if come out of your closet, it's perfectly normal to feel attracted to the same gender, at least, that's what I read."

"That isn't how I feel about our relationship, but I'm not surprised you came to that conclusion, however," Itachi got out of bed. "That's not of importance. Let us take our leaving."

_'He played that off well.'_ "If you insist, after I pay for the room, we'll leave immediately."

_'Somehow...I have to make you hate me, Naruto.' _

* * *

Itachi quietly stood on the roof of his apartment, seconds after, he sensed an overwhelming amount of chakra before him. "..." _'Who are these people?' _"Have you come to assassinate me?"

"Not quite."

Four shady figures lurked behind him, three men and one woman. Instinctively, he held out his sword. "Who are you?"

"The four sounds." The guy with six arms answered. "East gate's Kidomaru."

A rather thick person with a fearsome posture followed up. "The same. South gate's Jiroubou."

An equally odd person who had somewhat of a sickly complexion and what looked like another head behind him answered next. "The same. West gate's Sakon."

Lastly, the female piped up. "The same. North gate's Tayuya."

As silently as they came, they once again disappeared promoting Itachi to challenge them. _'I hadn't planned to engage in conflict, but it seems I have no choice.'_

OoO

Sakura stared at the dull night, for some reason, she couldn't sleep. "...I wonder...do you think about me all the time like I do?"

(_'"Because, the last thing I care about is Team seven."'_)

"Heh, probably not. That just sounds crazy, doesn't it?"

OoO

It happened too quick for them, almost instantly every single one of them was lying helpless on the roof. Even with their secret technique, Itachi beat them all nearly effortlessly.

"Are you finished yet, or should death be the end?"

Sakon struggled to even speak. "...We'll never be done, brat. Besides, do you...really want to stay here with all these...fodder weighing you down...or do you want to have power?"

"I haven't the slightest desire for Orochimaru's power."

"Then tell me, what is your purpose?" Tayuya asked. "Why do you live, is it to kill the one known as Sasuke Uchiha?"

"The survival of this village is my only purpose."

"But you understand, don't you? Orochimaru-sama will keep on coming back and he'll keep on sending sound-nin until you're in his grasp. And I think...you've already come to those conclusions, you already know that your existence alone in this village will only hurt them."

"I know."

"Yet you chose to stay? If you want to give this village true peace, you'll leave and _never_ come back."

XxxxxXxxx

Itachi left the sound four how they were and entered his apartment.

"I guess...it's my only choice after all." Itachi buried through his closet and got out an old old backpack from the Hidden mist village. Before leaving the door after he finished packing, something caught his attention.

Itachi walked over by his bed and picked up Team seven's portrait. He held the picture dearly in his hands. "I apologize, I should've just become an Anbu agent in the first place." He slid the photo out of the frame and stuffed it inside his backpack. With everything packed, he left his apartment, leaving everything.

OoO

Itachi walked out to the only road leading out of the village, he suddenly stopped.

"...Sakura...please come out."

Sakura appeared from behind one of the walls. "You're as observant as always."

"Do you remember this bench, when we talked, you said I was just as bad as Naruto."

"Why do you care enough to follow me?"

"Because I couldn't just leave you alone. I never really understood why you liked to distance yourself from us, you always acted like you despised us, but I know, even though you won't admit it...you've always enjoyed our company. No one likes being lonely...not even..._you_."

"I said I hated both of you, didn't I, I called you pieces of trash. I thought that would make you hate me."

"Mean words will never sever our friendship! Don't you remember, way back then when the four of us would go on missions together...sometimes it was painful, but, from the day we were assigned teams to now, I've always enjoyed every single second of it."

"And..." Sakura's voice grew more and more tender. "I know about your..._past_..., but revenge, nothing like that will ever bring you or anyone else happiness. And I think that's all you ever wanted, Itachi. You've always wanted to be truly happy."

"Whatever 'happiness' I've had has never been spent with Team seven and _especially_ not with you."

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes, seeing him so unhappy and vengeful hurt her more than she could take it. "Then was being alone making you...happy? I know how you feel...I know the pain of being alone! Even though I have friends and a family...if you left me...It would-"

"That's just how it has to be. I have no other choice but to take this path, maybe while I'm gone, you two can grow strong without my support and can forget all about me."

"NO! I...I..."

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING! And...more than anything, I want to be with you so you'll never, ever have to be alone."

"How could you even begin to love me..." Itachi looked back at her and for the first time, she saw the emotion, she saw every bit of torment he was going through. "...I've hurt you so much yet, you won't stop..."

"PLEASE DON'T GO, I'LL YELL, I'LL-"

Sakura felt a light poke, her eyes wandered up to see Itachi's fingers resting on her forehead, he dropped his arm and smiled. "A day hasn't gone by when I haven't thought about you. Thank you for everything, Sakura-san, I'll never forget you."

"Itachi...kun..." Itachi watched Sakura collapsed on that nearby bench.

_'My life has never been happier when I'm with Team seven, it gave to me what my brother never did and I am truly grateful for that. Why I am leaving, why I live, has always been to protect-'_

"At long last, I've finally found you Uchiha Itachi."

The masked man once again encountered Itachi. "...Madara? Why're you here?"

"I want you to come with me and join the Akatsuki."

_'I know I've __heard about them...it must be the same group Sasuke is in.'_

"Orochimaru couldn't possibly teach you how to fully use the sharigan, beisides, we also happen to have a spot open."

"What do you mean?"

"Your brother, Sasuke, is dead."

OoO

_"Then, I no longer want you to be my brother." Sasuke picked up Itachi and threw him across the floor like a doll. "One day, when you have enough hate, then and only then can you become my brother once again, but for now, you're just a piece of worthless trash."_

OoO

Hearing the news of his brother's death gave him nothing but a brief feeling of devastation. The only thing he could regret was not putting an end to his life himself. "If my brother is truly dead, then that will change absolutely nothing. My only concern is to kill Orochimaru and the only way I can do that is to go to him, not to join some silly organization."

"I had a feeling you would say that, so then I ask this," His voice echoed through the empty night.

"What will be your purpose in life after you kill Orochimaru?"

"After the action I committed, the village will never accept me back and I'll become a missing-nin as planned, after that, my only goal will be to destroy Otogakure." He gave Madara a cold glare. "I couldn't care less about the Akatsuki." Itachi's words were stiff and clear.

"My apologies, I forgot to mention something. Boy, you don't have a choice whether or not you want to join the Akatsuki organization, because you've already been chosen and if you decline, well, I'll personally bring an end to this rubble you call a village."

"..."

Madara continued. "For around two years I'll prepare and train you to become the rightful owner of the Mangeykō sharigan, but don't worry, you can still fulfill your dream, in due time you'll be able to kill Orochimaru and his country."

_'Then my new objective will have to change. Madara is my new target.' _"I accept your proposal."

"Good, good. I want you to meet up someone at the Valley of End. There you will become the new member."

XxxxxXxxx

After the passing of the Third Hokage, Tsunade, through Naruto and Jiraiya's help, had become the new Fifth Hokage along with Shizune filling in as her assistant.

Shizune walked into the Hoakge office with a small stack of new shinobi profiles held tightly to her chest. "Lady Tsuna-"

The stack papers flew all over the place as she ran up to Tsunade. Everything behind the Hokage's desk was cloaked in thick, crimson red blood including Tsunade herself.

"Lady hokage are you okay?!" Shizune bent over and hurriedly began healing her wounds.

"..."

"Who did this?!"

OoO

_"My name is Uchiha Itachi and I am the one who shed your blood."_

OoO

"Itachi Uchiha!" Tsunade began standing up.

"Wait, m'lady, I'm not completely finished with your-"

"I can't let people see their Hokage like this, I'm fine."

Tsunade reached for the file of current shinobi in the village. "I want Itachi-"

Cutting her off, Kotetsu and Izumo walked into the office with a gigantic stack of papers. "Fifth Hokage-sama, we have something important to tell you." Izumo along with Kotetsu set the stack of papers on the desk.

"Whatever it is, it'll have to wait. I want Itachi found and in prison immediately."

"What?"

"According to Lady Tsunade, he...viciously attacked her." Shizune explained.

"That's...strange." Kotetsu muttered.

"What're you going on about?"

"Itachi is the nicest person I've ever met in my life. For him to do this is unbelievable." Izumo explained. "Speaking of Itachi, we have some news to tell you."

OoO

Naruto listened in to what was going on right outside of the Hokage's office. "...!" _'I can't believe this.' _He jumped off the window ledge and ran towards the gates of Konoha.

OoO

"If that's the case, then we absolutely _can't_ let him go, dispatch a team immediately."

"Since we're low on forces, we'll have to resort to a team of chūnin, or probably even lower than that, which I'm sure you already know." Izumo said.

OoO

Naruto finally reached Konoha's gate entrance, beyond would be a treacherous route he was willing to take for his friend. "Here I go..."

"Naruto! Hold up!"

Sakura ran up to him as he turned around. "What's up, Sakura-chan?"

"Hokage-sama told me about what happened to her and..." She clenched her fist in complete frustration. "You can't go after him alone! Take me with you!"

"No...It's too dangerous."

"But I know how to fight, Naruto. I can finally be...useful...please!"

"Listen, Sakura. I don't doubt your fighting ability, but do you think you can fight Itachi if he comes at you, because he'll definitely try to attack us? Are you willing to fight...Itachi?"

"...then it's up to you...you're the only one now..." Sakura's voice began to quaver when she thought about what happened last night. "I couldn't stop Itachi...last night, I was too weak."

Tears flowed down her cheeks, drenching her face with sadness. "So please...PLEASE SAVE ITACHI, BRING HIM BACK TO ME!" Sakura began trembling. "...I couldn't save him, but maybe you can..."

(_'"A day hasn't gone by when I haven't thought about you. Thank you for everything, Sakura-san."'_)

"...Bring Itachi back."

"You care a lot about him, huh?" Naruto gave her a slight smile. "I know how much pain you're in because of him. I understand."

Sakura clenched herself to stop the trembling. "Thank you...Naruto..."

His smile widened. "Hey, don't worry, Itachi will be back here before you know it," He made a thumbs up.

"I promise."

* * *

A/N: Throughout writing this story everything's been a gamble, I'm always afraid I'm putting in too much personality and too much dialogue. I hate the thought of it ever being OOC. (Thank god Itachi's a pacifist, so I can leave out certain fights)

I hate myself for writing such a linear story to the manga, and I've always pushed myself to make it different. Sometimes I'll even ask myself, he is Itachi after all, why is he doing the same thing as Sasuke? This chapter, honestly, is the turning point and the build up to Shippuden where who knows what'll happen.

Also, If I decide for Itachi to die from a terminal illness like from the original series, then it'll most certainly be during the fourth war/infinite tsukuyomi arc and once he dies...that's the end.


	16. Chapter 16: Distance

**Recap: **Sai rescues Itachi and manages to evade Orochimaru's surprise attack, but is it all too sudden when Itachi decides to sever all bonds and leave Konoha?

* * *

_"Why do you even care, huh?! You're too perfect to even notice me!"_

_"That's strange because I always thought we were...equals."_

Chapter 17: Distance

Naruto kept a steady, even pace as he bounded from tree branch to tree branch. _'You baka, Itachi! Don't ever think I'll give up on you so easily!'_

XxxxxXxxx

_"...Itachi! Why did you protect me?!" Naruto yelled. "...I thought you didn't...care about us!"_

_"Is that even a...question? You helped me realize who I was fighting for, Naruto." He looked back and smiled despite the hellish pain he was in. "Team seven is precious to me!"_

_Itachi tipped over, quickly, he used his arms and caught himself. "I can't die yet, because now, I finally have a reason to live."_

_With all the blood loss Itachi's hand grew weakened, but before he fell down, Naruto caught him just in time. "Itachi...ITAAACCHIIIII?!"_

XxxxxXxxx

A little ways ahead of Naruto were surprisingly the Sound four, determined more now than ever to catch Itachi.

_'It's your mistake for not killing us when you had the chance, so don't be surprised when we end up dragging you to Master.'_ Kidomaru abruptly stopped. "...! Someone's coming!"

"What? How many?!"

"One...no...maybe two." Tayuya muttered.

Two Jōnin class ninja, Raidou and Genma, surrounded them.

"Jōnin, eh? This'll be a bitch to deal with." Kidomaru's curse mark released and climbed across his skin, cloaking over half of his body.

Along with him, the other's curse marks also released in order to fight off the Jōnin.

OoO

Luckily, Naruto happened to spot a hidden explosive tag on a tree, he stopped and studied the tag as close as he could. "That's an explosive seal ain't it?" He weaved several signs and a shadow clone popped up beside him. "Alright, all you gotta do is peel that tag off right there and run as far away as you can."

The clone nodded, he propelled himself to the next branch and put in a thumbs up. "Don't worry, you're gonna save Itachi in no time, kore!"

*BOOOM*

The section of the forest Naruto's clone was in, bursted into wild flames, instantly destroying his shadow clone.

"...eh, that was close." With the trap disabled, Naruto continued his trek in the forest. _'The explosive tag was a fake, I would've been dead if I pulled that tag off myself. It feels like a trap Itachi would set up, but...he wouldn't try to kill me...'_

OoO

After their latest fight with the Jōnin, the Sound four were in no condition to fight. "We're wasting time resting like this. Every time we stop, even for a second, Itachi is advancing further and further away from us." Sakon grumbled.

"It's useless to complain." Tayuya responded. "We lost an overwhelming amount of strength since we used curse level two."

Kidomaru laid back further on the tree he was resting on. "We had no other choice if we wanted to beat the Jōnin, any other way we'd been likely defeated."

Jiroubou sighed. "It's just an unsettling feeling not being able to use our bodies, we're completely defenseless."

"...wait!" Tayuya suddenly said.

Everyone tensed up from Tayuya's unexpected reaction.

She continued. "There's a little brat closing in, but I don't believe his target is us, I'm certain he's after Itachi."

"It's expected that we do have some competition."

"Damn it, we should exterminate him as soon as possible. We can't risk losing our target to feeble-minded trash."

"Do you have a strategy to back that up, Sakon?" Tayuya asked.

"Of course."

OoO

Naruto sped up his movements through the forest. _'I'm almost there, I won't lose ya!'_

"Hey!"

Naruto couldn't decide on how he should feel after hearing that voice, he was so angry yet so ecstatic. After all this pain, the person Naruto wanted to see the most, finally came right before him. At long last, Itachi was here.

Itachi sighed, humored by Naruto's eagerness. "Well, you sure are persistent person."

"Itachi...I'm glad I finally found you, I really am!"

"I realize the error of my ways and I want to go back, I want to be back with people who...care about me."

Itachi walked up to Naruto and smiled. "So how about we go back to the village...together?"

Naruto happily smiled back at Itachi. "Yeah, ok!"

"On second thought, maybe not.""

"Huh? What-"

Before he could finish, Itachi lodged the kunai straight through the lower half of Naruto's body, using his other hand, he pushed the kunai far enough so it would puncture through Naruto's organs.

Blood violently gushed from Naruto's insides and splattered all over Itachi's hands. He smirked, feeling the warm, gooey substance scale across his skin. It felt elating.

"Heh...is that it?" Naruto had a tight grasp Itachi's shoulders. "The real Itachi could've killed me with that thing! Take this!" He pulled Itachi up close and kneed him in-between his legs.

"..."

"... ..."

"What...how come nothing's happening?"

"I'm not really who you think I am, fool!" Itachi jumped back, he gave up into his original form, Tayuya."

"Huh? Why didn't it work on you?"

"Isn't obvious?! I'm a fucking female!"

"..."

_'Damn brat.'_ "...NOW, DO IT NOW, JIROUBOU!"

Jiroubou came out from one of the trees holding up a monstrous-sized boulder, with a simple flick of his arm, the boulder came speeding towards Naruto.

As it got closer to Naruto, the speed picked up little by little. "Shit! What I'm gonna do?!

"MULTI-SIZE TECHNIQUE!"

Another giant boulder came flying just above Naruto's head and it smashed into the incoming rock.

As they made contact, debris came flying all over the place, Naruto scurried onto his feet and ran to find a safe place.

"We got trouble!" Tayuya looked back at Jiroubou. "You better defeat those genin trash, fatass!"

"Ladies shouldn't say such foul words." Jiroubou scolded.

"Shut up!" Tayuya quickly made her escape! leaving Jiroubou to defeat the genin.

"Hey come back, you coward!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, you shouldn't be bothered with her you know."

"...! You guys..."

Shikamaru, Kiba, and Neji all stood in front of Naruto, it took a while, but finally they caught up to Naruto.

"Wh-why're all of you here?!"

"Sakura told me what happened, it was so stupid and I couldn't just let yourself get killed. The Hokage of course wouldn't dispatch us so we left on our own free will." Shikamaru replied.

"So you just came to rescue me? Well I'm not going without Itachi, I came this far...I won't give up!"

"Yeah, I thought you would say that, and even though I personally think Itachi's one hell of a creepy bastard, we'll save him nonetheless."

_'He's right...Itachi's super kowai...'_ "Heh, I like your style, Shikamaru!"

Jiroubou glared at the genin. "All of you will be defeated by me."

Kiba smirked. "Oi, should I have a go at this Jiroba-guy?"

"No, he's mine!" Choji barked.

"What?"

"I'll take care of him," He reached inside his weapon pouch and pulled out a bag. "Shikamaru, give these soldier pills to everyone else."

"Are you serious, Choji?!"

"Yeah, don't worry about me, 'cause I have a secret weapon of my own!"

OoO

_'I assumed the Sound four would just run back to Otogakure after I beat them or at least Konohagakure's forces would've discovered them by now, but I have a feeling that isn't the case.' _Itachi stopped his movements._ "_...I'll just deal with them on my own."

OoO

"That's it. We've waited long enough, if Jiroubou doesn't come back in the next five seconds, assume he's the enemy and attack him." Kidomaru announced.

"..." As Kidomaru uttered those words, Jiroubou approached the group just in time.

"You were almost too late, Jiroubou." Sakon noted.

Tayuya merely scoffed and his late arrival. "You're such a shitty fatass, learn to be a little faster."

"Ok."

"...?" Everyone looked to Jiroubou in confusion.

"Aren't you going to say something?"

"No?"

"Didn't think you would." Kidomaru turned back, he lunged for Jiroubou and latched four of his arms around Jiroubou's thick build. "Jiroubou always scolds Tayuya for her language," His grip got even tighter. "Just who are you?!"

*poof*

"The hell?!"

Instead of being some sort of imposter, the enemy tried an approach they hadn't even thought of. "Tayuya, Sakon, keep-"

"Chidori."

A hand come from behind Kidomaru and impaled through his heart. Blood oozed from Kidomaru while the hand slowly ejected itself from his chest. Kidomaru looked around, he saw his other comrades had fallen as well. _'Damn you...Itachi.' _

Itachi stepped away from Kidomaru and continued his way to the Valley of End. _'Good. That's should keep them down for a while.'_

Not too far off from the Sound four were Naruto and the recovery team. Kiba caught an unsettling whiff of something in the air. "Itachi's scent, it's stronger than it was before."

_'Byakugan!'_ "...Shikamaru,"

"Hm?"

"The sound ninja's chakra have all been neutralized. It looks like they've been placed under a jutsu of some sorts." Neji reported.

"Alright. Well it looks like Itachi must of attacked them for some reason, whatever, it makes our job easier on us without the sound guys."

Naruto grinned. "Oh yeah! Looks like it only gets easier from here on out!"

XxxxxXxxx

_"This is a quote from a friend I once had; the day I die won't be when I perish from this world, it will be the day my dreams are forgotten."_

_Naruto nodded. 'Yeah, I can remember that...I think.'_

_"...And I when I do perish from this world one day, I don't ever want you to forget my dream. You are the only one who is...precious to me and the only one who can carry out that dream." Itachi cited._

XxxxxXxxx

The tension pent up in Kidomaru's eyes released and they finally opened. His eyes adjusted to the intense brightness and took view of the new world in full color.

_'Why am I not in the burning depths of hell?' _Kidomaru looked around. "Huh...I'm still alive? And..." His hand searched for the spot where his hole should be, but it was gone. "...ah I see, it was a genjutsu he used. Unfortunately, the genin trash must of passed us up by now.

"I hope that doesn't mean they already caught Itachi...well, we'll just have to find out then."

OoO

_'How far must I go in order to reach my destination? It seems like this forest is uncannily endless.'_

"ITACHI! I'M COMING FOR YA'!" Those loud words rippled through the air and echoed in the vast forest, somewhere, Itachi had to hear it.

_'...He's already that close up to me? If that's the case, then I have to take action.'_

_'Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger!' _Itachi turned around. "Fire release: Great fireball technique!"

Naruto and the recovery team were forced to hinder their movements as a giant, blazing wall of fire towered over them.

"Great." Shikamaru grew frustrated. _'We could easily go around it, but there might be traps set up. We could wait for the fire to go out, but we might lose Itachi that way.' _ "It's troublesome no one knows some sort of water or ground type jutsu, unless that happens to be the new jutsu you were talking about, Naruto."

"Well I think my rasengan has something to do with wind...should I give it a try?"

"No! It'll only make things worse." Shikamaru sat down and got into his thinking position. "Let me think of a solution, for now, your orders are to stand by."

"I don't believe that's an option." Neji suddenly said. "The Sound-nin's chakra have activated once again."

"Yeah, they're getting really close, I can smell their disgusting scent from anywhere." Kiba added.

"...what? Already?!"

"I would say we should just let them handle the fire, but there's no telling if they have the right jutsu and we'll also lose our position. There has to be another option other than waiting."

_'It'll use up some chakra, but looks like I have no choice.' _Naruto bit his thumb and placed his hand on the tree branch. "Everyone, get out of the way!"

"Huh?!" Kiba yelled.

"Summoning technique!"

A monstrous sized red frog poofed up from underneath Naruto's palm. "Awesome, it was Gamabunta this time around!"

Kiba quickly jumped away. "What the actual hell, Naruto!"

"Whaddya want, grunt?!" His voice boomed throughout the forest.

He pointed at the wall of fire. "Can you put that fire out, _boss_?"

"No problem. Stand back, runts!"

Huge amounts of water gathered up in his expandable mouth. "Water release: Gun shot!" The water unleashed and spiraled towards the mountain of fire.

_'You always surprise me, Naruto.'_

As the water splashed onto the fire, it went up in white, puffy smoke covering the sky in a thin haze. With his job done, Gamabunta disappeared. "Let's go!"

"Wait."

"Neji, we don't have time to wait!"

"The sound ninja are already here."

"That's why we have to run!"

"If we run into the smoke like that, you'll be open for attack."

Kidomaru, Tayuya, and Sakon were coming in close to the genin. "Tayuya, Sakon, go on ahead. I'll do quick work with the genin trash!"

Neji got into his regular fighting stance. "You guys should just go on ahead, I'll deal with him."

"...Neji..."

*whine-whine*

Akamaru calmly rubbed Kiba's head. "Seems this guy's a lot stronger than that fatass from before, you sure about this?"

"I'm sure. It's better to get rid of the enemy in order to ensure the success of this mission. If we all fight together, none of us will ever be able to reach Itachi."

"You have better eyes than me, Naruto, and I truly believe you can save Itachi from his fate."

XxxxxXxxx

_"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! YOU COULD'VE..." Itachi noticed the hard stares he was getting from everyone and loosened his hold. "...you could've gotten...killed. I'm sorry...Naruto."_

XxxxxXxxx

"Ok, so we have three and the enemy has two on their side. If all goes well, we'll be able to defeat them all at once." Shikamaru explained as they got even closer to Tayuya and Sakon.

"It's four against two!" Kiba barked, motioning to Akamaru.

"Arf!"

"Sorry, four vs two."

"Yo, I'm sure we'll be able to beat them with our brand new technique, ain't that right Akamaru?"

"Woof!"

"Heh, we'll be fine with my shadow clones!"

"I's good to hear we have some sort of offense," Shikamaru admitted. "But my strategy comes first, got it?"

OoO

Tayuya and Sakon leaped off the branches, as dusk got near, they had to catch Itachi fast.

"..." Sakon stared back behind them, Kidomaru hadn't come back yet. "...Is Itachi going to Orochimaru-sama for power after all, he's heading in the same direction."

"I doubt that's the case, but for now, we won't dwell on that. What matters is Orochimaru-sama, we have to get Itachi-kisama to him somehow."

"That's impossible. We have to hope Itachi is going to him. If we couldn't defeat him back in the leaf village, then what slight chance do we have to catch him?"

"We'll think of something."

OoO

Blood and water trickled down from the tips of his body, it made an unsettling noise as it came into contact with the cold shower tiles. "Where is he?" Orochimaru's muscles tensed up once the pain grew even more. "Where's that Itachi brat?"

_'...it's gotten this bad...' _"Orochimaru-sama, we have plenty of other bodies and...you can use me as well."

"It _has_ to be Itachi...I didn't go through all this trouble for nothing!"

"That's too bad." Orochimaru's screams blocked out the noise of footsteps approaching them. "Itachi will never be yours to keep."

_'It's him of all times?' _Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "Quite contrary. We sent the Sound four after-"

"You think that pathetic group of yours could have even the slightest chance of beating, let alone capturing Itachi?"

A small smile somehow escaped from Kabuto's dead expression. "That's just wonderful. All of that planning we did was useless."

"Maybe, but everything's going accordingly on my part."

Orochimaru had enough of this. "Is that the only reason you came here?! To boast about your silly accomplishments?!"

"No. I actually came here for you, Orchimaru. I want to acquire _something_ from you."

"...Speak up, boy."

OoO

With the Sound four lagging behind, Naruto and the recovery team used this chance to catch up to them

"We're gonna beat the crap out of you guys!" Naruto proclaimed as he caught a glimpse the purple ropes tied around their waists.

"We don't have time for this." Sakon glanced at Tayuya, he wanted for her to go on. "These brats will be slaughtered in less than a minute."

"No, we can't risk lessening our numbers even more."

"...you're right." Sakon stopped himself and followed Tayuya away from the recovery team.

Shikamaru analyzed the current situation, them retreating wasn't at all how he planned their reaction to be. "Fortunately, there won't be a change of plans. Kiba, signal Akamaru, it's time to set everything in motion. Let's go everyone!"

Sakon turned around, the blonde hair kid was coming at him, full force, with chakra swirling in his palms. "EAT THIS, CREEP! RASENGAN!"

_'I can see his chakra, what an interesting jutsu.' _Effortlessly, Sakon raised his arm and caught Naruto's wrist. Sakon pinned him to the tree beside him. "I can't wait to finally kill you."

"Not today you will, go Kiba, get 'em from behind!"

"Piercing fang!"

_'He's coming from behind, eh? It would've worked if only the blonde kid didn't call it out like that, what a stupid move.'_ Sakon ducked and dodged. "Too bad, brat."

"NOW..."

_'What? Another attack?!'_

Kiba's real piercing fang was above Sakon and in seconds, his head would be shattered from his jutsu. "PIERCING FANG!"

_'Damnit, what the hell did I just fucking tell him?!'_ Tayuya tried moving her body to Sakon, but she couldn't force herself to move an inch.

"Huh?! The hell's happening?!"

"Shadow possession technique complete. " Shikamaru remarked.

"I'm done with these little shits." The curse mark released and it began climbing across Sakon's body, he flung Naruto away and held his hands out above him.

_'What's he trying to do?!' _

The piercing fang drove into Sakon's hands, somehow he managed to deflect the Justus using only his bare hands. Once the jutsu grew slow enough to handle, Sakon snatched Kiba's arms and smacked him on the tree beside him.

"KIBA!"

*snap*

An emerging feeling of power came across Naruto, with this extra boost, he sprung up and grabbed Kiba just before he fell down.

Naruto retreated to a far off tree branch and set Kiba down. "...hey Kiba, you-"

_'Wait...that paper bomb trap! Akamaru!'_ "Carry my will if I don't live and declare a national dog holiday." Kiba pushed Naruto away, with everything he had left, he bounced from the tree and shot straight at Akamaru.

"Akamaru!"

After Akamaru placed the paper bomb trap down, his paw got caught in something and he couldn't move, forcing him to watch the paper bomb getting closer and closer to setting off. In seconds it would detonate and kill him.

*BOOM*

The paper bomb Akamaru set, exploded, revealing a huge crevice jammed in between the forest. "KIBA, AKAMARU!" Naruto eased back. _'No, I won't have to worry. There's no doubt in my mind those two lived!'_

"Naruto!"

"GAHHH-oh wait. It's just you, Shikamaru."

"Yep, and I have a plan on mind."

OoO

Since Sakon fell inside the crevice, Tayuya had no other choice but to use the last resort so she flipped out her famous flute. _'I don't have much of a disadvantage, the only one I have to worry about is their clever team leader since the blonde-brat is practically useless.'_

"Alright Naruto, let's do it! 2 vs 1 combo attack!" Shikamaru yelled loud enough for Tayuya to hear.

"Yeah!"

Naruto and Shikamaru bounded from the tree branch and bolted towards Tayuya. Once Shikamaru was in her range, he quickly yanked out a kunai knife and clashed with Tayuya's own flute.

"Now Naruto, do it!"

Naruto pulled back his arm to prepare for an initial strike. "GET READY!" When Naruto got just above Tayuya's head, he pressed his hands against her head and propelled himself to the other tree.

_'He he, just kidding!' _

"What the-HEY! You shitty brat!"

_'...I'm counting on you Shikamaru, just like you're counting on me to save Itachi! We won't let each other down, that's a promise!' _

XxxxxXxxx

_"My only reason for living used to be for killing you, Sasuke. That's what you wanted, but now I've found people to live for. I can't allow you to harm them, that's why, I've grown strong, because they are my only purpose."_

* * *

A/N: I'm happy to say that Shippuden (part 2) is coming up in 2-3 chapters, or less if I decide to just do a big chapter next week. Can't wait 'till then.


	17. Chapter 17: Mixed Memories

**Recap: **The Sound four and recovery team each face off against each other in one on one battles, letting Naruto get even closer to Itachi.

* * *

Chapter 18: Mixed Memories

It took a while, but finally Itachi entered the Valley of End. It was here where a new path would open up and where Team seven would come to an end.

_'__Madara was careless to mention who said person looked like.'_ Itachi bounded from Hashirama's stone statue and landed on the head of Madara's statue. He looked around and scoured the area.

"ITACHI!"

Itachi's voice grew frigid. "Naruto, you're just wasting your time."

Naruto's expression dropped the second he heard Itachi's voice once again, Sakura's longing words of Itachi's return flooded his mind. He tried, but no words could escape his lips.

"I don't...understand." Naruto managed to muster. His hands slowly clasped into a fist, every second his eyes laid on Itachi, more and more mixed feelings overcame him. "Why're you like this...WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

"I've always been like this, you've just been too blind to notice."

"..."

"I won't repeat myself, go back to the village and...never chase me again!"

"NO!...Kiba...Shikamaru...everyone...we all risked our lives to come here and save you. Don't they mean anything to you?!"

Itachi's black eyes grew even colder. "I don't care."

"WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Naruto jumped to Itachi, he snatched his shirt collar and slammed him down on the statue head. "WHAT IF THEY DIED, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL THEN?!"

"I still wouldn't care."

Itachi caught Naruto's punch. "...then do you want me to stay in the village and have more people die? You may of promised to bring me back, but I as well promised to _never_ go back."

He pulled Itachi close to him. "Do you think staying away from us will help you?! I can't let you go to Orochimaru and be used as a puppet!"

"I admit...there are some things I regret, but whatever I plan to do in my life, I will never look back on. Even if I die, I will never reg-"

"DON'T SAY THAT! I won't let you kill yourself! I'll stop you no matter what it takes! I'll even..." Naruto's hold on Itachi released and he stood back. "...fight you."

"Then fight me."

Naruto ran up to Itachi, he reeled his arm back and went on to punch Itachi in the face.

"..."

Just before he could punch him, Naruto's arm fell to his side.

"I told you, fight me."

"How can I fight you when you're not even willing to fight back?! You could've dodged that, even by now, you could've...won."

"...I remember you calling me your equal a long time ago, but..." Naruto's fist trembled. "I never once believed that was true. Even you knew it, this entire time, you were always superior to me and everyone else. That's when I finally realized..."

Naruto looked up, he stared at Itachi's empty, jet-black eyes. "...you were always pretending to be my rival, just to make me...happy! I work hard everyday, so I could truly be considered your rival, and I could truly be called your equal!"

Itachi walked over to Naruto, his hands tightened into a fist. "That's why," Without holding back this time, he punched Naruto, easily making him fly off Madara's statue and drop like a rock into the pool of cold water below them. "I called you trash."

_'Is this your true power...Itachi?' _The water colored a dark red as Naruto slowly rose to the top. _'I guess that means I'll have to work even harder...' _

Naruto shot from the water while Itachi jumped off of the statue.

Once they got close enough, Itachi grabbed Naruto's leg and threw him back.

"Shadow clone technique!"

One of the shadow clones lodged a kunai knife into Madara's finger, they latched onto each other and caught Naruto. The clones swung around to Itachi and released Naruto.

Itachi quickly bent down, as Naruto flew above him, he swung his foot right, jabbing Naruto hard in his rib cage.

_'In the end, you will...hate me. And that is the only thing that matters, right...brother?'_

* * *

_Flashback..._

Sasuke heaved Itachi on his back. "Does that feel better, little brother?"

"I was fine before, brother."

"Hey, don't act all so high and mighty," He gave Itachi a playful smirk. "You were lagging so far behind, I had no choice but to carry you."

"Oh..heh...is that so?" Itachi sheepishly said.

"Damn right, I want to get to father as soon as possible because I want to tell him something."

OoO

_Sasuke got a set of kunai, each of them were held between his fingers. "Are you watching closely, Itachi?"_

_"Yes, brother."_

_Sasuke jumped up, sensing each of his targets, he threw the kunai all at once and each of kunai perfectly nailed every single one of the targets, including the blind spot behind him._

_ "...You wanna have a go, Itachi?"_

_"I've already mastered that technique."_

_Sasuke wasn't surprised, hell, he'd be surprised if Itachi didn't know such a technique. Without such as a question in mind, Sasuke believed every word. __"Well, you are my younger brother after all."_

OoO

Just as the two finally made it back to Uchiha town, Itachi noticed a certain symbol. "...! Hey, older brother."

"Yeah?"

He pointed at the Leaf's police station they were walking past, plastered on the top was the Uchiha family crest. "That's the place father works at, right?"

"What of it?"

"I don't understand, why does the Uchiha govern the police, it seems almost...dangerous to let us control such a unit."

_'__How come my brother can't be one of those dumb kids?'_ "I can't give you a clear answer, but in short, our ancestor was not only in part of creating the leaf but he also created the police force. That's the reason why they let us take part."

"Most of us work for the first division in the police as well as keeping the order in Konoha. Those of us who force the law on other's crimes are superior shinobi."

Sasuke continued carrying Itachi to their house. "Do you want to be apart of the police force, because, you are a superior shinobi, Itachi."

"I want to be apart of the regular forces, hopefully I'll someday become a Jōnin and lead a team of my own. That is my dream."

"A Jōnin?"

"You'll become a Jōnin too, right?"

"No."

"-You're late."

Sasuke stopped once he heard his voice. They were already at their house.

"I can't imagine what too, you so long." Fugaku muttered, their dad was waiting for them at the entrance. "Hurry in. I have something important to tell you."

Sasuke and Itachi slipped off their shoes, they went in and kneeled on the tatami mat, waiting patiently for Fugaku to speak up.

"Itachi, they've already told me you're expected to become a chūnin much sooner than the others due to your abilities. Very good, I'm proud. I'll also be coming to your entrance ceremony tomorrow, I imagine it'll be an important event for the clan as well as you."

"Yes, sir, but I have an interest in a certain someone, I want to see that person grow into a powerful shinobi alongside him."

"We'll...talk about that later."

Fugaku began getting up.

Itachi noticed Sasuke's troubled expression, their father completely forgot him. "Father," He piped up.

Sasuke's eyes glazed on Itachi, his voice was toned down as he spoke. "Shut up already, Ita-"

"Aren't you forgetting older brother?" Itachi continued.

"Sasuke? Oh yes," Fugaku seated himself back down and he turned to his eldest son. "I haven't heard much about you from Konoha, is there something important you wanted to say?"

"...yeah. They're...they're bringing me on an A-rank mission. Depending on how I perform, they might consider me to take the special mission so I can become an Anbu agent."

"Then I want you to prepare right now so you'll be ready for the mission."

"Yes, sir."

_'...father's a little tough on Sasuke...'_

_The next day...entrance ceremony_

Third Hokage, Hizuren, approached the group of timid soon-to-be shinobi. "Congratulations on entering, everyone. From now on, work hard every day and follow the shinobi way."

OoO

Now that the entrance exams were done, people scattered all over the place in a rush to get back home. A plump shinobi walked towards Itachi, he felt a pang of nostalgia seeing those young black eyes again. "Heh, I remember the day when Sasuke entered."

"Sasuke was such a troublesome kid, but you could tell how hard he worked to stay at the top of his class."

"I thank you," Fugaku went over to them. "You took great care of the brothers."

"It wasn't that much trouble at all, Sasuke would practically teach himself, we nearly ran out of lessons for him."

"I think you're giving him a bit too much credit than he deserves."

"No, not at all. Besides, it's expected from him, right?"

Fugaku's attention rested on Itachi. "...you'll become an amazing shinobi one day, and as expected, you'll be even better than your older brother."

OoO

The kids took their seats, today would be the start of shinobi academy. Itachi walked up to a chair and took his seat. Two kids from behind started whispering over him the second they saw his clan symbol.

"Hey, hey, that's an Uchiha, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"That kid...he'll become the best shinobi in the class. So awesome."

"It's kind of scary."

Itachi shifted his head to the side, catching a glance of the kids behind him.

The kids quickly looked in a random direction.

Everyday Sasuke trained hard, excuratingly hard. He always pushed himself far past his limits. It had become natural to see him exhausted beyond compare, but this time he took it too far. After school, Itachi came home and found his brother collapsed on the ground in a dead, pitiful state, dangling between the lines of life and death.

Itachi's school slipped out of his grasp, he took off to Sasuke.

"Older brother! Are you ok?! No, I should get help, you-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"...older brother."

"DAMN BROTHER, I SAID SHUT UP!"

Without another word spoken, Itachi picked up his bag and entered their house. As he came in, he set his bag on the kitchen table where his mother, Mikoto, was reading the book _Paradise in Hell_. "Mother..."

"Yes?"

"Why does Sasuke...do this...to himself?"

Mikoto looked up from her reading. "What on earth are you-Oh God,"

In Itachi's younger years, she would always boast about how tough Itachi was, how he almost never cried, not once as a small child. Seeing tears swell up in Itachi's eyes signified how emotionally broken he truly was, the emotionless shell Itachi put up for so long finally shattered.

Mikoto sprung out of the chair, she tightly hugged Itachi. "Don't worry about it, your brother will be just fine."

OoO

Itachi walked back home with a report and one semester worth of school under his belt.

He slid the shōji open, beyond being where Fugaku waited. He handed him his report card and kneeled on the tatami mat along with him.

"...!" Itachi's grades were flawless, as expected. "I see...they say you're leaning on becoming a Genjutsu based shinobi, eh?"

"Yes, father."

"Well these grades are perfect, keep up the-" Fugaku raised his head up and got a good look at Itachi. Itachi's face was bright, red and swollen. "Itachi...your face..what happened?!"

"A group of less than average kids beat me up because they were envious of my academic acceleration."

"Why didn't-"

"I have no interest in fighting anyone, I don't understand it myself, but that's just how my nature is."

OoO

Later that night, Mikoto and Fugaku finally addressed Sasuke's extreme training methods. Mikoto spoke fist, her voice tender and sweet. "Your brother...he's been quite distressed lately about your training."

"What of it? I can't and I won't stop training, even if it kills-"

"That's enough, boy." Fugaku interrupted. "What is this training all about anyways?"

Sasuke stood up, he made his way to the shōji. "It's so I can get stronger for a certain...idiot."

OoO

Sasuke sat on the steps on the porch, watching the sun go down. Many things were on his mind, and now, the only person he could talk to was himself.

"Older brother!"

He swiftly turned around to see his brother running up to him with a huge grin on his face. It was worth more than anything to see him happy and the only thing precious to him.

"You came a little early didn't you, little bro? Are you skipping your lessons?"

"Hehe, of course not! I finished up all my lessons and was able to leave early."

"Oh, is that so?"

As Itachi sat down beside him, another question came into mind. "Itachi...do you hate me yet?"

"Why would you say that? Older brother..."

"I love you," He smiled. "I really do!"

"You're such an idiot...just like him, eh."

"Hm?"

"Ever since you were born, Itachi, I've been a horrible brother to you. And I'll continue to be a horrible brother because I am a horrible person. However, that's why I have you as a brother, whenever I lose myself to this world, you'll be there to run ahead of me and become an even better shinobi. We are an odd pair of siblings after all."

"If the day ever comes when you end up hating me, then I will fully accept whatever punishment you bring on to me, because...I am your older brother."

"..."

A sudden loud, obnoxious voice broke the silence.

"HEY, WHERE'S THAT SASUKE BRAT?!"

"YEAH, WE NEED TO TALK TO HIM!"

Sasuke forced himself to stand up, wearing a stoic face, he approached the group of shinobi waiting outside of his house.

"What the hell do you want?" His tone was harsh towards his fellow Uchiha clansmen.

"Last night, two men were missing from the meeting."

"What of it?"

"Why weren't you at the meeting?"

"Becuase, I had better things to do."

"We can understand that you may of had Anbu missions, but were informed you would be completing one, last mission before dropping-"

Sasuke turned around and began walking away.

_'This little fucker.' _"...hey comeback, at least answer one more question!"

He stopped. "What is it?"

Itachi peeked behind one of the wooden beams and listened in to what they were saying.

"We found a rotted corpse by Nakano river last night of..."

"...Shisu Uchiha." The other guy finished.

A piece from the wooden beam snapped off due to Itachi's intense clutch. _'He...Shisu-san is...'_

"Oh, you mean that idiot?" Sasuke scoffed. "Who cares?"

_'Older brother what are you-"_

"Shisu Uchiha was the one who didn't appear at the meeting last night other than you. We knew you two never got along that well, but we always thought despite all your bickering, he was your best friend."

"...no. Not once have I ever thought of him in any way other than a pest."

"Anyways, we suspect he committed suicide, so we of the police force have decided to investigate this situation." He pulled out a note and handed it to Sasuke. "In any case, here's what we got so far, it's a suicide note from him. We even went so far as to check if it was forged or not, it wasn't."

"In that case, what evidence do you need?" Sasuke crumbled up the paper and threw it on the ground. "You're obviously suspicious of me killing Shisu, just kill me right now, whatever happened."

_'O-Older brother!' _

"What?"

"Shisu...he was the black sheep of the clan, and I'm glad, I truly am that he died."

That was it.

Itachi took off, he wanted to be as far away from Sasuke as possible. It didn't matter where he was going or how much time it would take, as long as it was away from _him_.

OoO

_'One week and two days since his funeral. Two weeks and two days since he died. Forty eight hours and 30 minutes since I've accepted his death.' _Itachi was sitting down at a dock, below him was a small pond of still water. "...is there something wrong with me? For not hating my brother, I mean. I'm an Uchiha after all, wasn't I born to hate?"

A ripple formed in the still water as a small leaf lightly tapped on the surface. "Is this...is this just how God created me? Is this...am I..._good_?"

"Itachi,"

"Good morning, father." He automatically replied.

Fugaku walked up to his son. "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Your brother...he is to be exiled from the clan tomorrow." He said it with much ease, as if it wouldn't matter to him of Sasuke was exiled or eaten alive by a vicious animal.

"Sasuke killed several of your clan members, he was also found guilty of murdering Shisu. Even as a father, I agree with his punishment, his crimes were far too great."

"I'm tired of the duties...there is no future for Uchiha...and for me...I cannot walk out the _path_ any further."

"What are you saying, boy?"

Itachi now stood firm on his two feet . "It's Shisu-san's words from his suicide note." He walked past Fugaku. "And maybe, it's true."

He went back inside the house where Sasuke was preparing for his last mission as an Anbu.

"Nii-san."

Sasuke looked back as his younger brother ran up to him. "Hey weasel, what's up?"

Itachi held up shuriken between his fingers. "I just taught myself a shuriken technique."

A vein popped on the side of Sasuke's forehead. "What?! Already?! I was supposed to teach you that!"

"You can teach me something next time."

"..."

"Heh...you're growing much more mature, huh, Itachi? I hear they're already promoting for you to become a genin, and at such a young age. I really wish I had more ti-" Itachi poked Sasuke on the forehead. "...!"

"I'm always up for learning from you!"

Sasuke pushed Itachi away and quickly stood up. "Can you just...shut up for once?"

OoO

Itachi slumped in a chair at the kitchen table, while his mother prepared him lunch. "Mother, do you and father...still love Sasuke?"

"...?"

"Earlier, father walked up to me and told me brother was being exiled, I could tell, there wasn't a hint of pain in his voice.,

"As a mother, I'll never stop loving Sasuke, but you understand the severity of your brother's crimes. We had no choice but to exercise the greatest punishment on him."

"Then...why has Sasuke changed so much? He's become angrier and rarely shows any emotion."

"That's just how your brother wants to act. And I'll be the first one to say, Sasuke isn't the nicest of people. However, I know somewhere buried in tang cold exterior, is a warm heart that cares for all of us."

_'...you don't know either.'_

Fugaku finally came in and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Father, why is Sasuke so distant from everyone, especially...me?" Itachi suddenly asked.

"Sasuke is a very cold person and prefers to keep others away from him, especially those he likes the most. Even as a father, though I try, I could never understand him..."

_'What brother needs someone to work off of, he needs someone to rival him so he can strive to be his best, and...'_ Itachi thoughts trailed off._ 'Ever since Shisu-san died, Sasuke hasn't been the same.'_

"Itachi dear, your lunch is ready!"

Itachi grabbed his lunch. "...Thank you."

OoO

After school, Itachi hurried back home, he was almost at Uchiha town when he saw a shadow flicker in the moonlight. He shrugged it off and kept walking until he entered Uchiha town.

Itachi looked around and saw blood splatters all over town. Right beside his foot, he saw his aunt lying in a pool of her own blood. At that instant, something inside him shattered.

"Is this what you were talking about Sasuke?!" Itachi ran towards his house, everywhere he looked, he saw only death. The once joyous walls filled with laughter were now etched with screams of terror.

Itachi slowly approached his house and slid open the shōji. He cringed seeing the floors and walls painted with bloodstains.

In a panic, he stumbled upstairs and opened the door to his parent's room.

"I was too late, I'm sorry." His knees grew weak and wobbly as they moved to the corpses of his parents. "Mother, father, I-"

He stopped, Sasuke appeared on top of their blood covered bodies, his blood red eyes were luminous.

"Why?! You did this..." Warm tears streamed down his face. "Didn't you?!"

A devilish smirk her on Sasuke's face. "I killed them all, Itachi. And I loved every bit of it."

"...but why I-"

Sasuke snatched Itachi's shirt collar. "You want me to kill you too?! Do you still want to live?! DO YOU HAVE THE WILL TO FIGHT?!"

"..."

"Tell me Itachi, tell me right now how much you hate me!"

"I don't hate you, Sasuke."

Sasuke slammed Itachi's face in their parent's pool of blood. "TELL ME YOU HATE ME!"

"I don't...I still don't hate you."

"That's it," Sasuke crouched down and turned Itachi over, his face held no emotion, that happy smile from long ago was destroyed.

A hard punch landed on Itachi's face, blood spilled out of his mouth and sprawled across the floor. "TELL ME...TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU HATE ME!"

"I...I don't...hate you."

Sasuke punched Itachi in the face a second time. "TELL ME! JUST TELL ME..." Tears quickly swelled up in his eyes the more he stared at Itachi's utterly defeated face. "...tell me you hate me."

"I'm just a fool, that is why...I cannot...hate you."

"Then, I no longer want you to be my brother."

Sasuke picked Itachi up and threw him across the floor like a worthless piece of trash. "Listen to me well, one day, when you have enough hate, then and only then can you become my brother, but for now, you will always be...trash to me!" Sasuke got up and left in a flash, leaving Itachi...alone.

OoO

Itachi scrambled out of his house and ran, it didn't matter where he was going, as long as it was far away from this hell.

"Hey Itachi!" A voice called out.

Itachi looked behind him, his eyes enlarged and his heart skipped a beat.

"Why are you so scared, I promise, everything will be ok!"

It was too long since he heard that sweet, happy voice. "Shisu-san..." The words escaped his lips.

Shisu ruffled Itachi's short, black hair and happily grinned. "I'll protect you with my life, no one will ever hurt you again."

Itachi sobbed uncontrollably into Shisu's shirt. "I'm so glad you're alive, Shisu!"

"Hey, hey, no need to cry, weasel! You're a tough guy, remember? Please, smile for me, I hate to see you cry."

He rubbed his tears away and smiled. "I'm really happy you came!"

"Me too!"

A sword suddenly pierced straight through Shisu's heart and he collapsed.

"Foolish Itachi."

A foot came down onto Shisu's head. "You should've known this was a Genjutsu." The foot pushed as hard as it could on the head and eventually, his head smashed much to Itachi's horror. Blood was spurting out from the openings of his cracked skull. It was horrifying.

"Hate. Hate for the rest of your life, hate me more than anything and I'll once again accept you as my brother, because from now on..."

_"We are strangers."_

* * *

_'I still remember every little moment I shared with all of you, I was so happy back then. That's why I wanted to protect you more than anything, because you felt like a brother to me. Team seven was my only family.'_

_'That is why...I would do anything for you, without question.'_

XxxxxXxxx

Naruto floated to the surface and popped out of the water. _'Shit, Itachi's not joking!' _"Itachi," He grinned widely. "You called me trash, right? You haven't changed one bit, you're still a horrible liar as always!"

"Is that so, well, you haven't changed one bit either, you're still as foolish and naïve, as ever."

(_'"Hey, Itachi." Naruto began walking back to the stand. "Don't lose to that guy! 'Cause I wanna fight you!" "...Alright. I think it'll be interesting to fight you..."'_)

"I remember, you told me you wanted to fight me." A sigh escaped Itachi's breath. "I accept your challenge full on. Together, we'll fight to see who the strongest is."

"I doesn't matter to me anymore who's the strongest or the...weakest." _'Ram, snake tiger!'_ "I just want to bring you back, and fighting's my only choice, multi-shadow clone technique!"

Hundreds of shadow clones appeared beside Naruto. "Let's go, guys!"

Itachi jumped off Madara's statue and weaved a jutsu in midair. "Fire release: Great fire ball technique!" A giant hurl of flames burst from Itachi's mouth and it destroyed all the incoming clones in one shot.

"Hehehe-I thought you would do that!" Naruto got behind Itachi, he swung his leg and knocked Itachi into the water.

*poof*

Just before Itachi plunged into the water, he self destructed.

_'That was a clone too! Then where's the real Itachi?!' _

The real Itachi appeared in plain sight. "Fire release: Great fireball technique!"

_'Heh, the same jutsu! That means I use...'_ "Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Instead of a fiery blast, several clones of Itachi stood in front of him. His clones charged for Naruto's and together they clashed.

"Damn it!" Naruto pulled out a kunai knife. "I'm coming for you, Itachi!"

Before he could rush inside the crowd, Itachi's clones blew up leaving only but one of Naruto's clones left.

The single clone staggered up and faced Naruto. "Fire release: Great fire ball technique!"

Naruto stumbled out of the way, just barely dodging the fire blast. Within seconds, Itachi was behind Naruto, he snatched his white shirt collar and pinned him to the foot of Madara's statue. "Now...Tell me Naruto,"

"Tell me how much you hate me."

"I-I don't hate you, Itachi."

He punched Naruto in the jaw, blood spilled out of the crevices of his mouth and dipped into the water. "Tell me...TELL ME RIGHT NOW HOW MUCH YOU HATE ME!"

"I don't...hate you."

*wham*

Another punch hit Naruto's right cheek. "It doesn't matter...how many times...you punch me. I'LL NEVER HATE YOU!"

Itachi stared at his hands covered in blood. The warm, red substance warm followed down and dripped from his arms onto Naruto's orange jumpsuit.

_'That...that wasn't apart of the strategy at all, what happened?'_ For a moment, Itachi's eyes closed, then reopened. His once soft, black eyes were exchanged with blood red ones.

He could feel Naruto gawking at his eyes, the more he stared, the more the fear rose in him.

'_Those eyes...they aren't the same from before!'_

XxxxxXxxx

_'I always knew you were a loner, Itachi. And I was...I was really happy, because finally...there was someone just like me. I've always wanted to t__alk to you.'_

_'But, you were cold.' _

_'As far back as I can remember, you were perfect, Itachi, in every way possible. It was back then where I decided I wanted for you to be my rival, I couldn't stand the thought of being called a loser...again. But it was impossible. Everyday you would try so hard to make us happy, and even then I would only accept you as a rival...never as a friend. But in truth I...I...'_

_'I've always wanted to be just like you!'_

_'I get you more than anyone, Itachi, and because of that, I know how hard you're still trying to make us...'_

_'Happy.'_

XxxxxXxxx

"You told me, you would bring me back no matter what, correct?" Itachi asked.

"That's right! I'll never give up on you, I promise!"

"Heh..he, heh...ha hah ha!" Itachi crackled up with mocking laughter. "You honestly are that stupid?! That makes me even more excited!"

Itachi laughing. An evil laugh no less, and this entire time, Naruto thought he didn't know what laughter was. "What the hell is wrong with you, Itachi?! What are you so excited about?!"

"I'M JUST ITCHING TO KILL EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE! Let's see how far you're willing to go for me then when I slaughter your precious Iruka!"

"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto's feelings could no longer be held in, they burst out all at once, he felt Kurama's chakra surging through his veins giving him all the strength he needed.

Naruto shot like a bullet towards Itachi, he reeled back his arm and released it with every bit of power he had left.

Naruto's fist went straight through Itachi.

*poof*

"...a...-"

"And, Naruto," Itachi whispered.

He felt a stabbing pain through his chest, he looked down and saw a kunai knife sticking up from him.

"I'm itching to kill you, _the most_."

Naruto held up his arm. "You just don't get it," He clamped down on his hand. "I won't stop. Even in death, I'll bring you utter hell."

"...!"

OoO

Within the Valley of End, a dark spot of matter surfaced and a dark green shell in the shape of a venus fly trap arose. The shell ripped open, revealing a half colored being donning the Akatsuki cloak.

_"Itachi's done fighting already? He barely did anything."_

**"Be mindful of Itachi's nature, it's his friend after all."**

_"No matter. We'll see what he's truly capable of in time coming..."_

OoO

"So you realized it was a Genjutsu?" Itachi said.

"You didn't make it that hard to figure out." He replied.

_'As I've calculated, we're reaching the conclusion of this fight, it's time to end it with my final move.'_

"What was the point of the genjutsu?! You only wasted your chakra by doing that!"

"There wasn't any point. I merely wanted to see how you would react." He turned around and walked off.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"I'm done fighting, because you no longer hold my interest."

"How is that...FOR YOU TO DECIDE?!" Naruto could feel the ninetail's chakra re merging inside him. "I'LL BREAK YOUR LEGS SO YOU CAN NEVER RUN AWAY AND I'LL BREAK YOUR ARMS SO YOU CAN NEVER HURT ANYONE EVER AGAIN!"

"RASENGAN!"

Naruto ran up to Itachi as he was walking away. Itachi swiftly turned to the side. "You still don't have enough hate, Naruto." He snatched Naruto's shirt collar and fastened him on the wall of stone behind them.

"I never had any hate to begin with!"

"No matter how many times I hurt you, it never matters. Tell me why you care so much?" Itachi asked.

There was somewhat sincerity in Itachi's words, so Naruto had only one answer for him. "It's because...when I'm with you, I wonder...if that's how it would've felt like to have a brother. Losing you would feel like I'm losing a brother."

For a slight second, Itachi's face flickered with emotion. "...Brother...?" It felt so long since he ever said that word.

"You already knows what it feels like to have a brother...so do you consider me your...brother?"

"I wouldn't know. I don't have a brother to call my own, Sasuke is merely a stranger to me. Whatever me memories I've had of him are...dead. I have nothing left of my family or my home to remember."

"Then that's why...that's why you need to come back. Team seven can be your home...and I'll be your brother." He grinned. "What do you say?"

Itachi punched Naruto into the stone statue. "No."

An inevitable rage exploded within him, a blood, orange cloak snaked around his body along with the growth of four fox tails.

_'It's emerged, everything I worked so hard for finally can get paid off.' _Itachi jumped up onto Madara's statue.

Fueled purely on rage, Naruto scaled up Hashirama's statue in a flash. "ITACHI!" Naruto screeched.

Itachi held his hand out and did a beckoning motion. "Come, Naruto."

Naruto took off from Hashirama's staute, as he launched closer and closer to Itachi, his rasengan grew wilder. "ITACHIIIIIII!"

Itachi stood up and held two fingers.

OoO

_"It's time to move, let's go." _

OoO

Itachi swung his arm back and lightly poked Naruto's forehead. He gave Naruto one last, warm smile.

"Forgive me, brother, we'll fight another time, I promise."


	18. Chapter 18: Follow my lead!

**In celebration of one year of Itachi, my brother, I bring to you Naruto episode 158 Follow my lead! The Great survival expedition**

**/Next and final chapter of part 1 will come out shortly/ **

* * *

*CRACK*

"MULTI-SHADOW CLONE TECHNIQUE!"

"Naruto...!"

Just barely, the immense weight of the boulder was being lifted up by Naruto and his shadow clones . "Kakashi...RUN AWAY...

"Yes..._sensei_."

Kakashi didn't think about it for a split second, he turned around and ran down the cliff.

_'If Naruto were to die, then, it just be his own fault. It can't be helped either way.' _

Chapter 19: Follow my lead!

"NOOOOOO WAY!"

"I'm not gonna be just some babysitter for a couple of stupid brats! Forget it!"

The other genin all silently stared at Naruto as he stormed away from Tsunade's desk, insulted he was given such an easy task.

Tsunade grimaced. "That's unfortunate to hear," She held up a creamy, white sheets of paper with a cluster of names written down. "You're missing out on a great chance to lead, protect, and guide some of the Leaf's greatest ninja. It's like...Hoakge training."

_'H-hokage training?!'_

"But if you don't want to then it can't be helped."

"Wait, wait!" Naruto ran back to her desk. "I was kidding, yeah, come on, I wanna do it! I wanna do it!"

"I had a feeling you'd see things my way, let's get started."

OoO

Naruto gave the map he was handed a long stare, then to the Academy ninja he was supposed to lead. _'Hokage__ training my ass. They're brats like I expected.' _

"Listen up!" Iruka yelled. "...blah, blah, blah-"

He heard Iruka, sure, but the words didn't seem to fit quite well together in his head. "Hey, wait, can you repeat that one more-"

"Alright everyone! Begin your expedition!"

Much to Naruto's chargin, Iruka and the other ninja disappeared. _'Geez, guess I have to wing this one.'_ He quickly cocked his head back and faced the waiting Academy nin. "Ahem! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, but during this mission, that'll be Naruto-sensei to you, tell me all of your names and then we can get ststared already!"

"Uchiha Itachi."

"Hatake Kakashi."

"Haruno Sakura."

Naruto walked over to them and pumped up his fist. "Let's win this one, team!"

"..."

His hand reached for the back of his spiky, blonde hair. "Uh...ok..."

OoO

"The most important aspect in a survival expedition is the food-" Choji stopped midway, he bent down and picked up a green herb. "This here is the Shinobi Kyuusaisou, you can eat it raw so it's essential for ninja missions."

Choji's team gawked, open eyed. Their little eyes were fixated on the herb. "Awesome!"

"I know right? Alright, that's enough of me talking, go and pick some up!"

The kids scattered around the forest and plucked several herb looking plants.

"Let's eat!"

"Wait-" Choji snatched the herb from one of the kid's hands. _'That was close.'_ "This isn't a Shinobi Kyuusaisou, it's a fake. Although it's a common mistake for beginners, novices like me can tell apart the two by simply looking at the leaves."

OoO

"So the most important thing is the food." Naruto picked up several containers of insta-ramen among other things and stuffed them inside his backpack.

"What the hell do you expect to do with prepare able food? This is an expedition, we have to bring things necessary for our survival." Kakashi commented.

"Whu-but this is necessary!"

"Like hell. Itachi, Sakura, pick up Shino-"

Naruto could tell where this was heading and it was definitely nowhere good. "Hey, this is my team, you follow my rules!"

Kakashi's blank, black eyes waited on Naruto. "..."

"..."

"...fine.."

OoO

Hours had gone by and soon they found themselves in a small area, bursting with vegetation. Naruto walked up to the tree in the middle of it all and etched a thick cut straight in front of them. "We're gonna use this as a landmark in case any of us ever get lost, just head back here."

"Right!"

"Now that we got that out of the way..." He walked off in a random direction. "Let's go everyone!"

OoO

Minutes later, they found themselves standing knee deep in a swamp full of swat-worthy flies. Somehow.

_'Just a little ways over there...'_ Naruto squinted at the map and compass. _'Or maybe somewhere to the left.'_

"Onward!"

The team followed Naruto through the murky waters.

_'There's no doubt about it.'_

Next, they found themselves at the edge of a cliff. _'Yeah I'm reading this right...'_

"This way!"

_'He has...'_

Naruto looked up. "Um...lef-"

_'...Absolutely no idea where we're supposed to go.'_

"Sensei," Sakura piped up. "We're literally back where we started." She stated flatly.

Itachi sighed. "Sensei, please hand me the map."

"You'll probably make us even more lost."

"Exactly," Kakashi interjected. "That's why you should hand me the map, Naruto."

"No way, if anyone should, get, it should be Itachi-kun!"

"Itachi?! No way!" Naruto argued

"Please just give me the map." Itachi repeated.

*rustle-rustle*

OoO

With one, finishing last kick to the stomach, Lee's team defeated all the ninjas who ambushed them just in one go.

Lee flashed one of his famous smiles. "Great job, students, let's continue our quest!"

"Yes, Lee-sensei!"

"...please repeat what you just said."

"Yes, Lee-sensei!"

"_Lee-sensei_?!"

"Sensei, are you crying?!"

"I'm just so happy...the power of youth blossoms even in the new generation! Let's finish this heading with your newfound youth!"

"Yeah!"

OoO

"...! We'll deal with this later," Naruto flipped out a kunai knife. "Stay close to me guys!"

Several ninjas jumped out of the bushes, each baring deadly weapons. "Here we go, Sexy jutsu!" Clouds formed around Naruto as he transformed into a tall, sexy woman version of himself.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed from the compete frustration he was in. _'Of all the justu, he chose the most useless one...' _"What are you doing?!"

Naruto simply winked at Kakashi. "Well boys, you'd never hurt little, ol me, would-"

Sakura and Itachi were just finished with tying together the knocked out ninja. Itachi stood up with a stoic expression on his face. "...You look like a fool, sensei."

"You tell him, Itachi-kun!" Sakura cheered.

Naruto's mouth was hanging wide open. "You kids aren't...normal!"

OoO

The dead night rolled by bringing in heavy rain with its arrival. Itachi, Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto all crowded into a tent and kept themselves busy by listening to the steady patter of raindrops.

"Well at least something went right today." Sakura said, she blushed. "And it's all thanks to Itachi-kun!"

"Guys, I hate to tell you this, but we're behind," Naruto began getting himself up. "I found a secret pathway, and we're gonna use it to get ahead!"

The Academy nin glanced at each other. Another idiot idea.

Before they could say a word of sense, Naruto was already out of the tent.

"Should we go after him?" Kakashi said.

Itachi started standing up. "Knowing Naruto, he'll probably end up getting himself in trouble."

"Or killed." Kakashi sneered, getting up as well.

OoO

Naruto shot straight up the vertical cliff, more than ever now, he was determined to lead him and his teammates to victory with this shortcut. _'Heh, almost there!'_

"Naruto!"

He looked back, Kakashi and Itachi, with Sakura on his back, were following after him. _'Tsunade wasn't joking with those kids, I hate to admit it, but they're really good.'_

As he was running, Kakashi's foot pressed on a weak spot on the wall.

*crack*

"Damn it!" Kakashi slipped back, he crashed landed on Itachi and Sakura making them all fall down.

"GAHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oi, don't worry guys!" Naruto lodged his kunai knife at the foot of the cliff and weaved several hand signs. "MULTI-SHADOW CLONE TECHNIQUE!"

"Alright guys, you know the drill!"

The clones nodded towards Naruto and started grabbing each others ankles, creating a sort of human ladder.

Naruto jumped off the cliff, he was falling at such a high and high height sped it felt like the wind itself whipped him in the face the closer he got to the ground.

He flung his arm out. "KAKASHIIII! Grab on!"

The clones swung from the side of the cliff and grabbed Naruto's ankle as he was grabbing Kakashi's hand.

*clamp*

Naruto tightly wrapped his hand around Kakashi's. "Heh, you gu-" His eyes quickly widened when he realized what happened.

They slipped out of his grasp.

"NARUTOOO-SENSEIII!" Sakura's ear-piercing scream rung in his ears, but there wasn't enough time for Naruto to react or think, the only thing that ran through his mind was _they're falling, they're falling_.

_'That's what I get anyways for trusting you, Naruto.' _Quickly, Kakashi drove his kunai knife into the cliff while also grabbing Itachi and Sakura. "...I refuse to die in such a pitiful way."

OoO

When everyone got situated, Naruto and his team continued scaling the wall until they found shelter in a small cave. Not a word was spoken.

"Fire release: Greatfire ball technique!"

The team huddled close around the small fire. Everyone was still distraught from what happened.

"I'm sorry." Naruto apologized, his eyes burned out on the fire. "I wish...I wish I could've caught you, but..."

"I didn't."

Sakura stared at the blazing fire. "It's not completely your fault, if Kakashi didn't fall on us...then none of that would've happened."

"Hey, hey, no need to say that." Naruto said, trying desperately to keep the peace.

Kakashi's voice was noticeably raised. "None of that matters, as team captain, we should be able to rely on our captain. We entrusted Naruto with our lives and he failed us."

Naruto's head sunk even lower.

"When you become Hokage...are you just going to let the village all die so easily?!"

"Don't say that," Itachi warned. "There wasn't a need to bring that up."

"You know full what we were out through, Itachi, if we almost died as easily as that, then maybe...maybe Naruto shouldn't become Hokage!"

"...you're right. If I can't save one friend, then how can I save one village?" A cheesy grin formed across his face. "...I promise, from now on, I'll protect you guys with my life if that's what it takes!"

"I won't accept-"

*moannn*

*groannnn*

Naruto jumped on this opportunity. "...hey, why don't we forget about this and eat some food!" He pulled out several insta-ramen and a small cake. "Let's eat!"

"The only thing we can eat is the cake, the rest needs hot water to eat." Kakashi mumbled. _'I knew we shouldn't of listened, we should've gotten the herbs anyways.'_

"Oi, we can still eat it!"

"No we can't!" All three of them said.

"Geez, then we'll just eat the cake thing, he used his knife and made three equal cuts into the cake. "There, happy?"

"Three?" Sakura asked. "But what about you, sensei?"

"I screwed up, didn't I? So I don't get a piece, it's all for you guys."

*gurggle* Naruto clenched his stomach to ease up the noise. "Hey, would you guys just hurry up and eat it already!"

"Sensei..."

"Here," Itachi and Sakura grabbed a chunk of their slice and held it under Naruto's chin. "You need to eat too, sensei!" Sakura argued.

"We all need our strength." Itachi added.

"...you guys..."

Kakashi abruptly stood up, his hand tightened into a fist. "I can't stand this..making friends can only lead you to death. In the shinobi world, those who follow the rules..." He briefly paused and the tension built up. "...deserve the right to _live_."

Without another word uttered, Kakashi ran out of the cave and continuing running up the cliff. _'My team is incompetent so only I deserve the right to proceed.' _

*crumble*

_'What was that?'_

*snap*

His eyes wandered towards a giant, brown boulder teetering on top of the cliff.

*CRACK*

"MULTI-SHADOW CLONE TECHNIQUE!"

"Naruto...!"

Naruto and his shadow clones were under the boulder barely holding it up. He turned his attention to Kakashi who was frozen in place. "RUN AWAY! PLEASE...I promised...promised to protect you guys!"

"Yes..._sensei_." Kakashi turned around and ran down the cliff

*BAM*

"G-AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Are you just going to run away and leave our sensei to die?"

"...yes." Though he didn't bother to look, he could sense Sakura and Itachi standing behind him, probably wearing some kind pissed expression.

"Naruto gave me strict orders to run away, I'm simply following them."

"Is that how it is? Then we'll simply have to save Naruto-sensei."

Kakashi continued running down, he figured someone like Itachi could save him so he left.

_'Is it even possible to walk away from the pleas of a dying man, something like that makes wonder if you're even human, Kakashi.' _

XxxxxXxxx

"Is that it?"

"Yep."

The door suddenly creaked open, Naruto, Sakura and Itachi all looked back to see Kakashi standing in the opening. "Yes, Kakashi?" Tsunade asked while filling in her last documents.

"The mission..." His drifted words off. He was content to see Naruto alive, although Iruka personally told him what happened after he left, nothing could ease him unless he could see Naruto for himself.

"I really...enjoyed it."

Naruto looked back and smiled at him. "'Cause I was your sensei right?"

"You almost had us killed by going through your shortcut."

"What was that?!" Tsunade yelled.

"...aw come on Kakashi, Baka!" Naruto made a quick getaway out of the office whole Tsuande angrily chased him.

_'Uzumaki Naruto becoming Hokage? Like hell that would happen.' _

* * *

A/N: Sorry for it being so confusing, but think of it as another switch roles type of situation. Well anyways, it's just filler sort of, so I can have 20 chapters in for part 1.


	19. Chapter 19: Fractured

**Recap: **Naruto and Itachi fight 30% while Itachi's flashback takes up 70% of the entire chapter.

black zetsu=**bold**

white zetsu=_italics_

* * *

Chapter 20: Fractured

The sky, now a vastly gray color, poured down small, needle-like rain droplets. Itachi's head hung over Naruto's lifeless body, seeing him like this was unbearable.

_"Hey kid,"_

Itachi looked behind him, he saw an odd-looking person calmly staggering towards him. Wrapped around his body was a black cloak, splotched with red clouds, a clear indicator of Akatsuki status.

"Are you the Akatsuki I'm looking for?" He asked.

Bit by bit the dark green shell encasing his body slowly cracked open, revealing a man. Half of him was white the other black. Complete with the weird skin colors was his dead grass looking hair, although it was an interesting complement to his pale yellow eyes.

The white half of him spoke up._ "That is...correct, so c__ome with me, Uchiha Itachi to fulfill your purpose."_

It happened again. That same feeling of despair he felt so long ago once again bubbled up inside him. "O-of course..." With one final glance Itachi stood up. "Tell me your...name."

_"Zetsu. Now let's go."_

_**delete**"Even though I may act a little cold  
_

_I can never forget the feelings of happiness you gave me_

_And I'll still remember all those happy moments with you_

_Just know, everything I do from this point on forward..._

_Will always be to protect you."_

* * *

*three days later*

_"We're here."_

Itachi entered the small cave Zetsu led them to. "...!"

Zetsu noticed his expression._ "Their spiritual pressures are rather immense, it must be a sharp change from the ones you felt in Konoha."_

Barely, Itachi could make out the shapes of several people and each of them were respectively donning a black cloak. He noted something else._ 'Only three of the shadows are tangible, the rest are just..holograms?'  
_

"..."

"...So this is the little shit Sasuke always talked about, hm?" A smart-mouth piped up, breaking the eerie silence.

"Now don't say that," Another voice remarked. "I bet someone like him could whoop your ass in five seconds."

"Shut up!"

Itachi's guard stiffened at the sound of sudden footsteps caught his attention. "My name is Pain, I am the leader of this group known as..." He briefly stopped. "...the Akatsuki."

He then turned to one member in particular. "Itachi is in this organization for a reason, don't underestimate him."

"What is my objective while in this group?" Itachi asked.

"You'll know in...due time, for now, you'll be assigned a partner to train with in order to ensure the success of your teamwork capabilities."

"A partner?" Itachi repeated.

"Yes, from now on until death, you'll be working coincide with Hoshigaki Kisame."

XxxxxXxxx

(_"'Forgive me, brother, we'll fight another time, I promise.'"_)

Naruto's eyes opened up to a pale, white ceiling. A slight contrast to the milky, gray sky he last remembered seeing.

"Good, he's up."

He cocked his head. Tsunade, Sakura, and Shikamaru all standing around him. _'I'm in a...hospital room, aren't I?' _

"I heard about what happened, and I'm surprised, your injuries aren't as bad as we expected." Tsunade commented.

Naruto cringed at those words. Itachi still didn't take him seriously enough. "I'm so...I'm so sorry Sakura-chan." He quietly muttered.

"Heh, what're you talking about?" Sakura's feet awkwardly scuffed over to the curtains, she pulled them open. "The weather's great today, isn't it! Maybe we can all take a..." Her words drifted off.

"Sakura-chan!" He yelled. "I will keep that promise no matter what, I'll keep it 'till the end of time, no! Even after the end of time, because,"

"I won't go back on my word!" His lips curled up to make a cheesy grin. "'Cause that's my ninja way!"

_'I trust you...completely Naruto.' _Sakura glanced at Naruto's goofy, grinning face, and she couldn't but smile back. "Naruto..." She began walking away. "Next time, I promise...we'll find Itachi together!"

OoO

Zetsu plopped a black lump in Itachi's arms._ "There's your cloak, fitted just for you."_ A black hole of matter surfaced under his feet and he began sinking into the ground._ "You'll get your other adornments shortly."_ Soon his entire body disappeared, something like that Itachi would definitely study.

"I wonder how long it's been since Sasuke first wore that cloak?"

Itachi slipped his arm through one of the sleeves, not a single word uttered.

"Maybe six, seven years ago I believe."

Other sleeve.

"When he first joined, I remember him being such a brat, I do hope you'll be better company, _Itachi_."

Last part; buttoning it up.

"Anyways, my name is Kisame Hoshigaki and from now on, we're partners."

"...I've heard the name tossed around before, its a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Oh it is?" He smirked wide enough to show his sharp teeth. "Looks like I've done my job well."

OoO

After everyone had left, Naruto was once again alone. _'I wonder what Orochimaru's doing to you...no...I can't think of that I-I know, I'll count the number of tiles in the ceiling...shit, I don't wanna do that.' _

Naruto heard a sudden noise outside of the window breaking him from his thoughts. He peered out of the window. "Pervert sage!"

"Hey, Naruto!" Jiraiya greeted, he stepped off his frog and sat on the outside window ledge. "I have something important to tell you."

"..."

"From now, you're officially my apprentice now and in three years, I'll make you a full-fledged shinobi."

Naruto nearly fell off his bed. "Huh?!"

"While I was researching Orochimaru, I found some significant information about the Akatsuki from a reliable source. Luckily, they won't be coming after you for about three or so years."

"Listen, I don't have time to be going on random adventures, I don't care if they go after me in three years or three days!" He yelled. "None of that matters, I have to find Itachi...Orochimaru is going to kill him!"

"That's what I need to tell you...Itachi isn't with Orochimaru."

"...what but then WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!"

"Orochimaru gave up on Itachi, somehow he obtained someone even more powerful, or should I say, more suitable than Itachi. We're not sure how Itachi obtained such information, but he played it against you, in short, there honestly is no answer on where Itachi is and who he's currently with. And unless we know exactly what Itachi is trying to do...just give up on him completely."

Jiraiya continued. "I know you think Itachi is special, but in truth, he's a no better person than Orochimaru. Whatever words he used to try and justify his actions were nothing but lies, Itachi willingly left the Leaf and nothing you do will ever change his mind. Forget about Itachi, you'll only end up a fool."

"Yeah, well so what...you didn't know him like I did...he was-"

"He left the hidden leaf."

"..." Naruto's head dropped, he struggled to find any more words to say. What Jiraiya said was true, Itachi left them.

"If all you want to do is track Itachi down, then forget my training. I'll stick the Anbu with you, and you'll never be able to leave the village...You're not an ordinary kid, Naruto, you have the nine tails fix spirit within you and if you decided to disregard my words and just go your own way then I'll have no choice but to go the latter."

"One day, you'll face enemies, even more powerful than Orochimaru, and what good will chasing Itachi around do then? Strength and jutsu won't make you a good shinobi, you also have to have intelligence and be able to weigh your options. You have to be smarter in order to become a great shinobi...and in this world, reality has no room for _fools_ like you."

Naruto's sheets wrinkled from his tight grasp. "Well...If that's what being smart means, then I'll just live a fool my entire life."

"...!"

"Even if I have to do it alone, I'll just learn more jutsu, heh, and I'll even beat the Akatsuki while I'm at it. So I ain't stopping until I catch Itachi by the tail!"

_'This kid's a total idiot.' _Jiriya started getting himself up. "And if you do it by yourself, then you'll return back with nothing, well, that's to say if you do return." He jumped off the ledge and landed on top his frog's head. "But you're a special kind of fool, maybe you'll be able to do it after all, alright, get ready after you leave the hospital. Understood?"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, okay!"

* * *

**By request from Angelvan105, I bring "finally a clash! Genin vs Jōnin!"** (I'm sorry I couldn't get it in on October 3, I was incredibly busy, well anyways, happy birthday:) well...late birthday...)

**A/N: Next chapter is undoubtedly shippuden, and because I'm feeling generous, there won't be a hiatus from now and then, and even more so, I might be able to get in a chapter or two a week from now on (hopefully)**

* * *

**OVA 4: Finally a clash! Jōnin vs. Genin! **

**Indiscriminate Grand Melee Tournament Meeting!**

Itachi stood in between Shizune, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, after recently being called he assumed it was another Anbu mission.

Based solely on the vision of his mask, he could see hundreds of shinobi scattered around the Hokage's office. _'This must be the tournament I've been hearing about...'_

Tsunade raised her arm. "Alright everyone! LET'S GET THIS STARTED!"

"YEAHHHHHHH!"

She had a stern but relaxed expression as she faced the crowd. One hand gripped onto the railing, the other fell flatly to her side. "Listen up! We'll have you do a preliminary match first to decide who'll participate in the final matches, anyways, I'm sure all of you are aware of the free-for-all rules, the crystals will involve jōnin, chūnin and genin!"

"Jōnin and chūnin will carry red crystals and the latter blue crystals and within the time limit you'll fight for them! Even if you manage to lose your crystal, you can retry as many times as you want, within the time limit, of course."

"The winner of this tournament will be rewarded by creating a new rule for Konoha!"

"YAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

_'A new rule?'_ Itachi thought. _'Interesting gesture...'_

"NOW, let the preliminary all-out brawl...BEGIN!"

As the shinobi scatered about the leaf, Itachi walked over to Tsuande, he kneeled down. "Hokage-sama, what is my mission?"

"Oh, I almost forgot, there isn't any official Anbu missions for you to currently do,"

"Hm?"

"And I've seen you work so hard as an Anbu so I decided to reward you with allowing you to participate in the tournament." She handed Itachi a red crystal. "Have fun!"

XxxxxXxxx

_'If I absolutely must play, then I plan to win...the only problem is...' _

Itachi walked down empty path, clear from any invading shinobi. _'I have yet to find an opponent.' _Ever since word got out that Itachi Uchiha himself was in the tournament, not a single soul dared to go near him.

"Hey, Itachi!"

Except for one.

He turned around and saw Rock Lee staring right down at him with those bushy, bushy eyebrows. "We've locked eyes with each other so now we're destined to fight!"

Without a second to react, Lee landed a punch and his leg went straight through Itachi's waist. "Wait, what?!" He quickly his reeled arm back dragging along a thick substance encased around his leg. The substance began bubbling until it burst into a flock of ravens.

_'Damn it, he already got me!' _

OoO

Lee's fallen crystal laid flatly in Itachi's hand. He stuffed it inside his pocket and walked away.

XxxxxXxxx

Itachi slid to one side while Neji the other, ever since Neji heard Itachi was a contestant, he'd been searching desperately for one of the leaf's top shinobi.

_'I don't have a choice at this point...well, I'll have to be quick.' _He forced his eyelids to open up, revealing his translucent eyes, a great risk, but it would be a risk he'd needed to take. "Byakugan!"

_'I see, that's his plan...!' _Itachi ran towards Neji with a cluster of kunai in hand. He leaped into the air and flung them at his head.

"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!" A sphere of chakra circled around Neji, deflecting the kunai all at once.

Itachi jumped back. "Now!" Much to Neji's surprise, he simply ran off.

"H-hey! Come back here!" Neji followed Itachi into the woods.

_'Good, he's gone, but there's no telling for how long.' _The real Itachi popped up from underground. "...oh!" A shiny blue object rested by Itachi's feet, just his luck, it was Neji's crustal he happened to drop so Itachi naturally picked it up. _'Two so far...'_

OoO

"I searched the entered village and not even a small sign of Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto's hands rested behind his head. "I just need some sort of lead..."

*BOOM*

It was loud. It was an explosion. And it had Kakashi written all over it. _'He-he, Kakashi has to be there!' _The spiky blonde took off towards the end of the forest.

XxxxxXxxx

"Fire release: Great fire ball jutsu!"

_'There are two attacks coming from behind and the front, it certainly doesn't leave me with a wide range of attack...' _Kakashi made his mind up and sunk below the earth.

Itachi swiveled around and Kakashi shot up from the ground, just barely dodging him. _'Ram, snake, ti-'_

Naruto entered there near edges of the forest where Itachi and Kakashi were having a heated match. "I-ITACHI?!"

For a second, Itachi's attention flickered, a perfect opening for Kakakshi to land an attack.

*BAM*

Kakashi's punch sent Itachi flying straight into one of the trees behind him. _'I can't get distracted, not even for a second, shinobi must never show any weakness.' _As quick as Itachi was down, he got straight back up.

"I-it's you!" Naruto's voice grew frigid. "GAH! Never mind! Just what the hell are you doing, Kakashi-sensei is my target!"

"..."

"...! HEY! Aren't you listening to me! DAMN YOU ITACHI!"

Kakashi sighed._ 'Months those two has been apart and they're back again to fighting, well, one of them is at least...' _

Naruto began weaving several signs, but before he could finish the handseal, Itachi spoke up. "Naruto, please, for the sake of this game, let's try to forget what happened that day and work together to get Kakashi's _red_ crystal."

"...fine."

_'Let's see how well they've improved.'_ Kakashi got into a fixated stance as Naruto ran up to him along with several clones. "Such basic jutsu like that won't work against me, Naruto."

"So what? There's no use in not trying!"

Itachi was coming from behind Kakashi, using Naruto's reckless tactic, he too had shadow clowns beside him. "Let's go Naruto!"

In one flick of the wrist, Kakashi held both Naruto and Itachi's arm. "It was a pitiful attempt, I told you to use higher grade jut-"

"Rasen-GAN!"

Naruto came running in front of Kakashi, a blue sphere of chakra in his palm. "KAKASHI-SENSEIIII!"

_'So the two that I'm holding must be clones.'_

Itachi jumped off of Naruto's buoyant hair and landed on the ground, speeding towards Kakakshi. "Chidori!"

A sigh escaped through his mask. "You two are certainly a handful." He lifted his forehead protector and revealed the famed sharingan. "Sharingan!"

"Let's go, Itachi!"

"Mm."

Kakashi bolted towards the two, with his arms pulled back, he swung them in front of him and grabbed both their arms.

*Poof*

"What?! They were both shadow clones..." His head swiveled around.

Itachi picked up Naruto and threw him at Kakashi. "THE TRUE...RASEN-GAN!" Naruto yelled, flying like a bullet through the air.

Just as Naruto was above Kakashi, he quickly ducked down and grabbed Naruto's leg. "Here we-" He swung Naruto around and flung him on the tree behind him. "-go!"

"-GAH!" Naruto plopped on the ground like a dead animal. "Damn it..." He cursed under his breath, then turned to face Itachi. "Itachi! You ruined everything!"

"You were simply too late, Naruto." Itachi replied.

"Shut up! Shut up! You bastard!"

"I barely said five words, there isn't a need to get upset."

"Who do you think you're talking-"

"Hey, hey-" Kakashi called out, he dangled a blue crystal around his finger. "Look."

Naruto furiously patted his entire body. "WHAT?! That's my crystal isn't?"

"A ninja must never show any weakness," He stuffed it inside his pocket. "I'll keep this for now. If you're ashamed then find your ways to the finals...well..._if_ you can." With that lasting comment, Kakashi disappeared.

_'You won't get away.' _Itachi left as well, trailing after his former sensei.

"...! I won't give up!" Naruto ran after them. _'You just wait...I'm going to get your crystal and win this tournament!'_


	20. Chapter 20: Shippuden

**Recap: **Wrap up of part 1 and introduction to what's going to happen in part 2

* * *

**Itachi, My brother Part 2**

Chapter 21: Shippuden

_'I wonder...how far are you willing to go for me _

_when I destroy everything you love.'_

"Well, well, well...if isn't _Sakura_."

Sakura's tight grip on Sai's neck loosened. _'Who's voice is...' _The thought trailed away once his deathly gaze dawned upon her. "Who...are you?" She quietly murmured.

"Ah-" Naruto scrambled out of the hallway._ 'He isn't...' _"W-where is he?!" His fingers tightly closed together. "WHERE IS ITACHI?!"

"..." The answer was nothing short of a blank stare.

"A-ANSWER ME NOW..._UCHIHA...SASUKE!_"

The corner of Sasuke's lips flickered. "And you're the nine-tails jinchuriki, hm," His eyes closed for a second, relishing the last time he encountered the spiky blonde. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

In a blink of the eye, his arm rested on Naruto's shoulder. "Tell me," He lowly muttered. "How is Itachi doing?"

_'So fast...!' _"Why the hell would you ask that?!"

"Oh, I assumed you already 'caught' Itachi back at the Valley of End, maybe instead of chasing him around you probably should've been _training_..." He pulled out his katana. "...because I can assure you, Itachi has."

* * *

*much earlier*

"This is going to take three full days...stay aware of your physical bodies. Zetsu, on the other hand, stand guard outside with your physical body."

_"Understood."_

"Three days? Maybe we should allow more time, after all, Orochimaru is gone."

"Then it's best we get started at once."

_"...! Enemies are quickly approaching our lair, one of them is powerful, he's Might Guy from Konoha." _

"Who?"

_'...its been too long since I've heard that name...' _"He's a jōnin class ninja, with expertise fielding in taijutsu. It's wise not underestimate him."

_'Oh, him.'_

"Then I urge you to use _that_ jutsu."

"Please allow me to leave...I find the fact frustrating that we haven't found our Jinchūriki yet."

"No, I'll go, fate itself has given me this chance."

_'Kisame...'_

"-That is true, the jutsu is best suited towards anyways you since you have the largest amount of chakra, we're still using 30% of your chakra."

"Heh, finally."

"Tch.."

_"...! Mm, several more Konoha shinobi have appeared."_

"Then I trust you'll handle them..._Itachi_."

XxxxxXxxx

He ran his fingers through his limp, black hair while a lowly sigh escaped. _'Haruno Sakura of Team 7...It's been a while since I've heard her name aloud...' _His pace began getting faster and faster. _'And Kakashi...the copy ninja.' _

The black cloak around him flapped wildly against the wind. _'And...Uzumaki Naruto...! They are my targets!'_

OoO

Team 7 and Lady Chiyo, a special escort, bounded from tree limb. Their mission to save Gaara from the midst of the Akatsuki would be their first as full-fledged shinobi.

Naruto's hands latched onto the end of the tree limb, the feeling of nostalgia pumped through his veins as his team dove in further into the forest. Throughout all the hard training with Jiraiya, he was finally one-step closer to realizing his dream. _'I wonder where you are...huh. It's been over two years since we've faced each other."_

"...Naruto."

_'I wonder what you're thinking about right now? Is it of...us?' _

"NARUTO!"

Naruto quickly snapped out of it, his head jolted towards the left where Sakura was giving him one of _those_ looks. "Sorry, Sakura, I just..." His attention drifted off again.

"Naruto..." _'He's been like this ever since we entered the forest.' _"I-"

"Hey-hey!" A bright smile formed across Naruto's face as he landed on the next tree limb. "I'm just worried about 'ol no-eyebrows, that's all! We have to stop the Akatsuki from taking his tailed beast!"

_'He's totally faking it, but I guess I should lay off the questions.'_ She smiled back. "Right!"

Kakashi stopped at the nearest branch. "Everyone, stop!"

Naruto and Sakura glanced towards each other, they could both tell their sensei was in distress mode. Naruto ventured to ask. "...Hey, sensei, what's-"

"_Long time no see...Naruto...Sakura._"

"W-WHAT?!" Naruto swung around. _'I know that voice! It's...' _

Itachi Uchiha stood still on the tree limb, he'd noticeably grown much taller than before, exceeding almost a head above Naruto. His raven black hair also grew long enough to put in a small ponytail, if anything, his face above all else was the thing that changed the most, almost unrecognizable from before. Blood red sharigan replaced Itachi's soft, black eyes and what little positive emotion he had left was nonexistent.

"Itachi..you..." Naruto's eyes rested on Itachi's cloak. _'Is Itachi apart of the...Akatsuki?!'_

Sakura's mind was stuck on replay, she couldn't react, all she could think about over and over again was Itachi. Lady Chiyo and Kakashi were the only real capable ones at this point.

_'An Uchiha, its been a while sine I've faced the sharingan.' _Chiyo noticed the blank faces of the children and looked towards Kakashi for guidance. "Do these kids know him-"

"Yes. He _was_...originally apart of our team, Team 7."

"I see."

Kakashi's eye narrowed when he saw Itachi shift his weight. "...Even though you were once my student, you're now apart of the Akatsuki and I won't hold back!"

"Good for you." He dryly replied and just like that, he was gone.

Naruto punched the tree limb. "DAMN IT! Why didn't I do any-"

"Hold your breath, Naruto." Kakashi said.

Itachi appeared behind Kakashi's back with a kunai knife in hand. Kakashi snatched his flailing arm and it burst into a flock of ravens._ 'I see that move still hasn't changed...'_

"How..." Naruto stared at all the ravens flying around. "I didn't even look at your eyes, Itachi...how did you..."

"You don't have to look at my eyes anymore in order for the gengutsu to release," He raised a single finger as his head slowly tore apart. "I can do it with just a finger,"

"...Y-you've changed so much...I..." His fingers were curling up into a fist out of pure anger. "Why did you choose a path of hatred and revenge?!"

"...I didn't."

XxxxxXxxx

_Flashback..._

"Aw! Come on Pervert Sage, I wanna _do_ Genjutsu not how to deal with it!"

Jiraiya sighed._ 'Of course he does..'_ "Listen Naruto, Genjutsu works on your opponent's five sense's, it's a highly advanced and intellectual jutsu that allows you to control the chakra flowing through the cranial nerves."

"H-huh? I don't get it..."

"Hey, nobody's askin' you to master genjutsu in a day, you're not really cut out for that type of jutsu anyways."

"Really? Then let's forget about that jutsu and skip it!"

"You can't skip it! There are enemies out there that can use-" Naruto wasn't paying attention at all to what he was saying. _'This damn kid...'_ "I'm telling you this because, _Itachi_ in particular exceeds in using genjutsu."

Naruto perked up at the mere mention of his name. "Yeah...I know...but...I..." He became flustered.

"If the time ever comes, if it comes, when Itachi decides to attack you, he's going to use genjutsu as his go-to-jutsu and once you're trapped in one of his jutsu, or anyone's, you need to try and stop your chakra flow as much as possible. While you're caught, your chakra is under that person's control and if you can break that control, you can break the genjutsu."

"..."

"What if I can't break it?"

"Then someone needs to physically touch you and send chakra into you to disrupt the flow."

XxxxxXxxx

"You're...lying!" Naruto roared, smacking his hands together. _'I'll break out of this in no time!'_

Naruto's pointless attempts somewhat amused Itachi. _'__He's improved vastly, however, it isn't enough,'_ "...to break out of _my_ genjutsu."

_'What's happening? It feels like...I'm falling...' _Naruto's pale blue eyes closed on the sliver of light above him, he was falling._ 'Why of all genjutsu you choose to do this...'_ He was falling in a never-ending black void.

Naruto suddenly plopped down, he pushed his arms on the ground and lifted himself up. It finally dawned to him that two arm-like pillars pillars were fixtured across from him, the fingers pointing up in such a way like they were in anguish.

"Shall we begin?" A voice echoed.

_'Huh?!'_

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH-AHAHHHHHH!"

_'That screaming,' _Naruto stumbled in the dim light to find the source of screaming. _'It sounds like...' _After what seemed like days of walking, he found a stone platform and someone strapped to it. _'It's me.' _

_'Why is he showing me this?!'_ Sweat began pouring down his pink face.

The screams stopped and so did Naruto's heartbeat. "ITACHI?!"

OoO

Within all the madness surrounding him, Naruto heard a distinct voice echoing through his ears like a blissful melody.

_"It's...ok..." _He would hear over and over again

Everything stood still, Naruto's conscience shifted and a spoonful of reality greeted him harshly. "...Sakura..." He slowly mustered up.

"You ok, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah but-"

Sakura sighed. "It was only a genjustu-"

"Did he...did Itachi do anything..."

Her head swayed to the left. "He didn't do...so Kakashi..." Her words trailed off to the black lump adjacent to Kakashi. Naruto ran over, and quickly scanned it. "What's going on?!"

Kakashi responded, disheartened. "I don't know myself,"

"He's Yura," Lady Chiyo said, walking up to the corpse. "A jōnin from our village."

"Hidden sand? How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure."

"Maybe he was an Akatsuki spy." Sakura suggested.

"That can't be it, he served four years at the highest level."

"It could be a transformation technique." Naruto said.

"No, if it was, he would've fought back, after you fell under the genjutsu, all attacks _and_ evasion from him stopped completely."

"..." _'So who we met wasn't Itachi, so then...where's the real Itachi...?'_

XxxxxXxxx

"I'm out of chakra."

"You're done too, huh?"

"It couldn't be helped, with what little chakra our 'sacrifices' were supplied with," Itachi said, looking yonder into the forest. "But we've delayed them."

"Mm, let's get back,"

OoO

Itachi and Kisame's chakra manifestation appeared on the fingertips of the gedō statue, essentially a vessel they had to feed.

"Itachi," Sasori said, it was a rare instance, whenever, if ever, Sasori mustered up the voice to speak to him. "Tell me about what kind of tailed beast Naruto hosts."

"..."

"Tell them." Their leader reinforced.

"...he is the one...who bursts in and barks first."

This puzzled Sasori. "What do you mean by that?"

Unlike his partner, Sasori, Deidara, would frequently put down Itachi and the Uchiha clan whatever chance he got. This had to be the perfect chance. Deidara spoke in his usual aggravated tone. "Interesting how you choose to still your tongue whenever information on Naruto comes about, hm."

Sasori added onto this. "You spent most of your days with the leaf's jinchuriki, shouldn't you know something about him?"

"..." Itachi began disappearing much to their annoyance.

Deidara's face twisted from annoyance. _'Then I'll remind myself to punish him later...'_

OoO

"Why did you cut off?" Kisame questioned.

Itachi answered nonchalantly. "I have an important friend I must meet."

"Sounds like you're using the term 'friend' loosely."

"Take whatever you want out of my words." With that, he quickly left leaving Kisame to fill in extra chakra for his absence.

* * *

A/N: it's a weird chapter, I know, and the next few chapters aren't going to be my usual 3,000 words three act story guidelines. So just bare with me for awhile.


	21. Chapter 21: Cascade

**Recap: **I, MB timeskip, finally. The story begins in the Kazekage rescue arc where Itachi as an Akatsuki member is introduced.

* * *

Chapter 22: Cascade

The door to Kakashi's room shut behind them. After encountering an Akatsuki member on their latest mission to rescue Gaara, Kakashi used the very last resort of power he had which deemed him to another session of bed rest. "Hey Sakura..." Naruto said, staring at the faded grey tiles. "I-"

"-I already know what you're going to say, and I won't tell her anything."

"Oh...but y'know as well as I do it's just a trick, right?"

"Of course it is! Itachi..." Her hands tightly gripped the railing. "Itachi would never join the Akatsuki!"

"...yeah...!" He weakly added.

XxxxxXxxx

-elsewhere-

Kabuto Yakushi slipped on a cream colored cloak to mask his identity. "It's time we head to Tenchi bridge, we only have-"

"That won't be necessary, I'm sending in someone else to fill my place."

"Huh?!"

"I want to see...how compatible my curse mark is with _him_."

XxxxxXxxx

Sakura, Tsunade, and Shizune all stood outside of Kakashi's room on the balcony. Her light pink hair shifted slightly as she finished speaking. "...And we have six days from now to reach Tenchi bridge."

"..." Sakura's words floated in Tsunade's mind for a bit. "It might just be the Akatsuki using Orochimaru's name as bait to ambush us."

"Then we fight if it's a trap!"

"Yes, but Kakashi will be unable to command for over a week, and there are only six available days to reach the bridge. The only solution is to...assemble a new team."

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune piped up. "If that's the case, then why not just deploy a different cell entirely. Even if Sakura comes, I feel as though Naruto should be removed during this mission completely."

"...Like you Shizune, Sakura is one of the few shinobi I trust implicitly, but this mission must involve the _remaining_ members of Team Kakashi."

"Just to prove whether or not Jiraiya's words are true? Don't you think my cell can handle that task?"

"To be frank-no."

"What...?"

"Even if it's just a regular mission to you, to them, this mission is _personal. _Itachi isn't just another one of their colleagues, he's their friend and they're willing to risk everything for his safety...that's why their team is more compatible than yours."

"...I understand but Naruto-"

"What do you think Naruto would say about something like that?"

"I'd say we need some new teammates!"

Naruto was standing on top of the hospital roof, he'd been there for a while and through Tsunade's subliminal message, he leaped off the roof and headed towards the village. "See ya!"

_'Oh, that boy...I didn't even get to finish.' _

OoO

Sakura made her way out the hospital. _'So I'll have to go back behind the Hokage's office in a little while to meet up with our new team...you know...'_ It became almost a habit of hers almost to unconsciously think about Itachi whenever she was alone. _'We wouldn't need a new teammate if only...no...that's in the past now. This time...I'll bring you back...wherever you are.'_

OoO

"Kisame...did Sasuke ever tell you his intentions for joining the Akatsuki?"

Kisame merely grinned. "It must be a special occasion, what makes you want to talk about your brother now of all times?"

"The thought dawned upon me."

"Now that you mention it, I do remember him telling me he struck a deal with a certain someone that they'd be able to reincarnate the world's strongest shinobi if he were to fulfill the Akatsuki's needs."

_'Sounds like something Sasuke would do, but with that information...I wonder if he's really dead or not.'_

OoO

Naruto wandered around the back alleys of Konoha, he was in a slump since all his attempts to recruit new members were unsuccessful. "Maybe if I ask one of the-no, no, that won't work!" He wondered out loud.

"H-ey, Naruto!"

"Mhm! Sakura?!" Naruto rotated his head to the left where Sakura and a group of strangers awaited by a pale-white, fenced building. He walked up to them. "Hey uh...wait..."

"It's you!" Naruto yelled, pointing at the pale toned boy next to Sakura.

He gave in one of the most plastic looking smiles Naruto had ever seen in his life. "Why-hello...again." He chirped.

"..." The other stranger spoke up, his voice was meek. "My name is...Yamato and...um...starting today...I'll be filling in for Kakashi-sensei."

"Naruto...you know this guy?" Sakura questioned.

"Yeah he-"

He spoke up. "Sorry about our earlier encounter, I was only curious to see how strong my future teammate might be, and whether or not I'd eventually have to come to the little boy's aid."

"WHAT?!" Naruto screeched.

Sakura held him back. "Calm down, Naruto! We have to work together from here on out, this isn't the place to fight, and you," She turned to the pale boy. "That wasn't very nice."

"Really? But I like ugly girls like you."

This time it was Yamato who had to hold Sakura down from being the crap out of him. "Hey, hey, don't start a fight already-like you just said!"

When Sakura pulled back, Yamato waited for everyone to somewhat calm down before beginning to speak. "...anyways...we'll be departing shortly, so might as well go ahead and introduce yourselves since we won't have time for chit-chat on the road."

"Naruto Uzumaki." He muttered.

"Sakura Haruno." She grumbled.

"And I'm Sai!"

"Alright then, I'll explain our mission; the four of us will head to Tenchi bridge and capture the Akatsuki spy who infiltrated Orochimaru's organization and then bring them back to Konoha. This is our best chance, if not only, to get intelligence on Orochimaru-and the likes of Itachi Uchiha,"

"Information we can later use to assassinate Orochiamru and..._retrieve Itachi_."

"...ok, as soon as everyone's packed, Konoha's gate will serve as the rendezvous point and then we'll deploy, clear?"

"Yessir."

XxxxxXxxx

"Well this is it, guys!"

A mixture of muffled mutters and groans came from Naruto and Sakura.

"...eh, Go Team Kakashi!" And they were off.

Several silent hours had passed by since they left Konoha, nothing but glares and stares replaced all forms of communication between the group. And for the longest time, Naruto was gawking at Sai. _'It's weird...the more I look at him the more he looks like Itachi...and he kind of sounds like 'em too.'_

"How ironic," Sai said, breaking the silence. "He used to give me those same stares awhile back."

"...what the hell are you talking about?!" Naruto demanded.

"Itachi, I mean, back when he was still apart of the black ops, he used to give me these long, stupid stares. I used to just think he was brain-dead."

_'Itachi used to work with this guy?!' _"Hey! Don't talk about him like that!"

"-I don't see why you want to save him so much anyways, it's obvious he _wanted_ to leave, _especially_ from you guys."

"You know what?" His fingers pressed on his palms. "WE DON'T NEED SHIT LIKE YOU ON THIS TEAM SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET THE FUCK OUT!"

"NARUTO!" Yamato yelled. "That's enough! Sai is your teammates and even if you don't like each other, you still have to find a way to trust each other. Lose the attitude, I thought Kakashi-sensei taught you better..."

"NO! The fourth member of our team will ALWAYS be Itachi Uchiha! Itachi is light years beyond better than Sai will ever be and he'll never be our teammate!"

"That's fine." Sai decided to put his two-cents in all with a mocking smirk on his face. "Because Itachi of the Uchiha clan is nothing more than disgusting...scum."

"...how dare you..." Naruto muttered under his breath, before he could pummel Sai, Sakura held out her arm and blocked him.

"Even if our opinions differ and Naruto doesn't really know you all that well, that's no reason to judge him...I'm sorry," She finished up. "Please forgive Naruto."

"I said it's fine."

Sakura smiled. "Oh, that's good."

The smile quickly faded. "But..." Sakura pulled her arm back and whammed Sai in the cheek sending him falling backwards. "I don't care...if you forgive me!"

"-Sakura!"

Sai rubbed the blood off the corner of his mouth, he rested his arm on the pavement. "So that was a...fake smile."

"DON'T YOU EVER SPEAK OF ITACHI LIKE THAT! Keep on bad mouthing him...and I _won't_ hold back."

He opened his mouth to say something but nothing could come out.

"That's what I thought."

"-clever use of the fake smile, I'll have to remember to use that." He managed to add.

Naruto's face scrunched up. "What're you even talking about?!"

"Never mind..." He said while starting to stand up . "It was just a small note."

_'This isn't working at all!'_ "Four-pillar prison technique!"

Several large pillars sprouted from the ground behind Sai, Naruto, and Sakura. "What's going on?!" When they stopped growing, more, smaller pillars surrounded the four big ones and slowly but surely, encased together. It made, as the name implies, a prison.

Yamato slowly tapped on his silver face plates. "We only have five days at this point to get to Tenchi bridge," His finger now laid on the cage behind them. "Keep up all this fighting and I'll throw you all in the cage. Where I'll have you rethink teamwork."

_'That's...wood style ninjutsu, but only the first hokage should know about that technique. How does Captain Yamato know about that...' _It finally dawned onto Sakura this guy was more than what he appeared to be. _'Then, just who is he?' _

Yamato continued. "But I'll give you guys two choices; spend the rest of the day crammed into the cage revisiting your teamwork skills _or_ enjoy the night at a comfortable inn." His face darkened. "_You don't know me either...although I do prefer using a kinder approach, I am not above using fear to control people_."

Cozy inn it was.

XxxxxXxxx

That night, Sakura sat up on her bed, she couldn't sleep so she decided staring at the night sky would have to be a substitute. _'I still haven't forgotten how much you tried to make me happy...all I what is to return the favor, but...'_

*knock-knock*

Her head rotated like an owl towards the door. _'It's probably Naruto.' _"Come in."

The door creaked open and much to Sakura's disgust, Sai poked his head out. "May I come in?"

She begrudgingly nodded and the door swung open. Sai came inside and leaned against the wall. "Can't sleep, huh?"

"Oh don't start with that crap." She snapped. "Why're you here anyways?"

_'She must still be sensitive from earlier.' _"I didn't get a chance to mention it earlier, so I want to relay some information from Danzo."

_'Danzo...' _A vivid image of the old man she met in Tsunade's office before they departed popped into her head. "Go on."

"It's about Sasuke Uchiha, he's...dead."

"What?!"

"A black ops agent recently found Sasuke's decayed corpse next to the Nakano river, according to the autopsy report he's been dead for over...two years. Itachi's only goal was to kill Sasuke and now that he is dead, we have reason to believe that Itachi Uchiha is-"

"That's enough, Sai."

"Well, then," He smiled in response. "_Goodnight_."

OoO

Sakura woke up to the warm, soft touch of the sunlight, with a restless night gone by she felt extremely winded. As Sakura was dressing into her usual attire, she saw something out of the window that caught her eye._ 'How long has he been up...?'_

"Hey Sai!" Sakura chirped when she neared the dock above the spa's drain water. "...oh, I never figured you as the artistic type."

"Looks can be deceiving, can't they?"

"Heh, don't I know it," She bent down to his level. "For someone so...er..._rough_ on the outside, you sure do seem to be a sensitive guy on the inside."

Sai noticed the corner of her lips curling up affectionately. "That fake smile of yours, let me guess, you're going to punch me again?"

"Only if you give me a reason...heh, I'm just messing with you, so about yesterday..." Her face grew grim. "Was-was he ever...happy...in the Anbu?"

"He was..." Sai etched a hard, black line into his ominous sketch. "...special."

"What do you mean?"

"There's was never really a word to describe him,"

"Well, did he ever...talk about us?"

"He did, _especially_ about you, Sakura." A delicate shade of pink began painting Sakura's face. "-At the time I didn't know what type of emotion he displayed and even now I'm still confused, but at least I can somewhat firmly grasp the concept of what he felt..."

"Itachi he...truly did..._hate you_."

OoO

"Hey, guys! Captain Yamato says it's time to-" Naruto's foot stepped in something murky. "Wh-what's this?!" As he ran closer towards the docks, the black puddles got wider and deeper.

"Sakura?!"

Sakura was sitting down at the side of the dock staring off into the abyss, next to her Sai was lying down, out cold beside her. "What...happened?"

"Nothing, he'll be fine."

"...alright-oh, what's that in his hand?" Although knocked unconscious, a small picture book was firmly in his hold.

She sighed. "Why don't you ask him when he's awake."

_'Yeesh, Sakura definitely didn't get any sleep if she's in such a pissy mood!'_ "Nah, I don't want see it anyways, it's nothing special!"

"Oh stop acting like a baby!"

"Wha-I-I'm not acting like a baby! If anything, that stupid Sai is!"

"Whatever, let's just go find Captain Yamato like you were saying."

Naruto took one last look at Sai as Sakura was walking away. "...yeah."

"Actually, that won't be necessary," Yamato appeared from behind one of the surrounding deciduous trees. "You two follow me...oh,"

"And Sakura, pick up...Sai."

"Yessir." Sakura hauled the pale boy onto her back then followed Naruto and Yamato out into the desolate forest.

_'This spot should do,'_ Yamato made a sudden stop when they finally entered an empty area in the forest, he ushered everyone to stand back. "Wood style: four pillar house technique!"

Naruto and Sakura stared in awe at the giant, two-story house rising from the earth. Yamato smiled while he walked in. "When you're done picking your jaw up off the floor, come inside, we'll be camping in here for the night."

_'Pretty sure this doesn't count as "camping".'_

OoO

"...How long will it be until we reach Tenchi bridge?"

"Don't be so impatient, we'll get there in due time."

_'Due time...'_ "If I can't get back to Konoha in the next following days, everything I've done up to this point will have been for absolutely nothing. _Tell me _how long it'll take."

"Well, you're sounding quite irritable about this whole situation, maybe instead of tagging along with me to 'exercise' your talents, you should've left straight from Orochimaru's lair. Learn to prioritize for once."

"Me following you wasn't on a whim, my presence is merely an experiment. Prioritizing wasn't an option, but killing you certainly is."

"I see, then we'll speed up the process."

OoO

"So anyways, here's the mission, first and foremost, our only goal is a _live capture_, the target must not be killed or heavily injured no matter what. Otherwise, we lose the only source of information. In return, this makes it an even more challenging mission than normal." Yamato explained.

Naruto could feel his throat tighten. _'There isn't any margin for error,' _He felt his lower stomach._ 'I need to stay under control at all cost!' _

"Since this is a delicate mission, it'll have to go off without a hitch, so you three will act as back up while I'll go ahead and capture the target. If my disguise is somehow penetrated and the enemy finds out I am indeed not Sasori, then a battle will commence, only then will I allow you to fight, but only on my command-"

"-For this mission, we'll have to fight in pairs, every one of your actions will be backed up by your partner at all times, teamwork is the keyword. Naruto and Sai will be in squad one and Sakura, you're with me."

He could tell Sakura was objected to this.

"Since you're the team's only media nin, we can't afford to have you injured, that's why you have to be with me."

Much to Naruto's dismay, with the mention of 'partner' Sai's coal black eyes homed in on his bright blue ones. He happily fake smiled and mouthed the word partner.

"Gah! You gotta be kidding with me, Captain! There's no way we can work together!" Naruto yelled.

"Life isn't fair."

"What?!"

"...like I just told you, tomorrow will consist of the pair simulation training, everything I know about you three comes solely from your files and I need to witness first hand your battle style, skills, and whatever else. For instance, Naruto, according to Sai's profile, he more closely resembles Itachi's confuse-and-attack fighting style. That's why you two should be able to have good chemistry."

"I doubt it." Naruto huffed under his breath.

"It's clearly the only way I can transform this team into the cohesive fighting unit it needs to be. Just keep in mind, I'm _not_ your previous sensei."

* * *

A/N: I've been trying profusely to keep up with updating weekly, unfortunately life sucks and for those who read **The Death and The Steven**, I probably won't update for a while, I'm having another writer's block:/


	22. Chapter 22: Naruto and Sasuke part I

**Recap: **Team 7 must head to Tenchi bridge in order to get info from Sasori's spy, however, with Itachi and Kakashi's absence, Naruto and Sakura are forced to work with two new members.

* * *

Chapter 23: Naruto and Sasuke part I

The giant fūma released from Sai's tight grip and came spiraling towards Yamato. While in mid-air, the shuriken morphed into Naruto. "HERE WE GO!" He screeched, rasengan in hand.

"Heh," Yamato instinctively ducked down and struck Naruto's forearm, he huffed, a good sign to Naruto he'd caught him off guard. "You made a mistake, Naruto, the clone should've acted as the weapon to confuse the enemy while you stayed by Sai's side."

"Who's to say I'm not actually a clone!" Naruto suddenly burst into thin air much to Yamato's surprise and Sai began forwarding onto Yamato.

Sai flung his arm out to his sides and the supposedly real Naruto ran behind him and started forming a small sphere of chakra.

_'They must both be Naruto.' _While in mid-rasengan-forming-motion, several wood clumps wormed out from the ground and wrapped tightly around Sai's body.

"Alright then, plan B." Naruto muttered, he leaped over Sai's head and lunged for Yamato. "Unnh!"

The actual Sai watched intently from behind one of the knotted trees. "..." He reached for his brush and scrawled a stout 'S' on his scroll. _'Super beast imitating drawing!"_

_'Oh my, looks like I made the brush stroke too thick...'_

Naruto felt a weird sensation creeping up his leg while he was busy pinning down his captain. "Huh..." His eyes dropped down and peered at what looked like a black leech, slowly but surely, binding him and Yamato together. "-ah! Why me too?!"

It finally registered to Naruto that the Yamato twined with him was actually a dummy, dubbed with the name 'loser' where its face should've been. "H-hey Sai! GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Sai moved away from his station, not even bothering to take as much as a glance at the spiky blonde.

That boiled Naruto's blood like nothing else. _'How dare he just leave like that!'_ He struggled to break free out of his slimy chains.

"HEY! Get me out of this-" By Sai's command, the leeches melted off like hot butter and Naruto was freely able to beat the living crap out of him.

"Sai!" Naruto grumbled, stomping up to the pale colored boy. "Don't you know what the word _comrade_ means?!"

"The term _comrade_ is used to mean 'friend', 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally' and derives from the Iberian Romance language term _camarada_, literally meaning 'chamber mate' from Latin _camera_ 'chamber' or 'room'. A political use of the term was inspired by the Suna Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers."

"Why you little smart ass," He stepped closer to grab Sai's shirt collar.

Sai inherently stepped back due to previous fiascos. "Seriously, Naruto, you shouldn't go blaming others for your own shortcomings. If you hadn't fallen for Yamato's rather blatant taunt you wouldn't of ended up the way you did. I'm not like the...previous member of your team who mothered you on every mistake you made, if you can't do your job as a shinobi right, then I'll simply do what's best for the team."

"..." Sai received only a light flick and back turn. "I'll still never consider you a comrade or—" Naruto paused and stared directly at Sai. "As a member of this team."

Yamato and Sakura sighed.

"That's fine," Replied Sai. "It's not my fault Itachi decided to baby you instead of treating you as a capable person, Itachi simply pitied your existence."

A long groan and the absences of breathing followed next.

"..."

Seeing no response from Naruto, Sai continued, "Itachi betrayed our village and attacked the fifth hokage, all for the sake of what, family issues? And yet you still consider him a beloved comrade for a couple of fake smiles and rehearsed acts."

"...I do. That fact will never change, I am willing to do _anything_ for Itachi, even...team up with you."

"-your obsession with Itachi is absolutely insane." Sai argued.

Sakura shook her head. "No, it's not. _Both_ Itachi and Naruto mutually think of each other as brothers."

"I know you have an older brother as well...you must relate to-"

"No."

Her lips pressed together as his mouth opened up again. "I don't have feelings." He stated nonchalantly.

"What're you talking about?! He's your brother...you have to feel...something. Can't you imagine, even a little, what it would feel like to lose him."

Sakura almost felt fear from Sai's presence when the words; 'he's dead' rolled out of his tongue so easily.

"Besides, what face _would_ I make when in reaction to his death? You guys don't seem to understand...I really don't have any feelings." He added on.

"..."

"I'm not sure, really, how Itachi treated you while in Team 7, but when he was still loyal to the Anbu he was...hm, let's say, not worth fighting for."

"-and I still don't understand how someone apparently 'nice' could turn so..."

"Hey." Naruto harshly interrupted. "Let's just go already. It's still awhile's walk to Tenchi bridge and if we're not there by tomorrow noon, we can go back home."

OoO

Day and night passed by and soon became a distant memory, the team waited anxiously by the front post of Tenchi bridge for their 'visitor' to finally arrive.

Seconds passed and voices grew mute when the eerie scratch of shoes could be heard. "There's two of them...?" Yamato muttered, slowly standing up. _'Sakura didn't mention Sasori had two spies.'_

Naruto, Sakura, and Sai all watched as Yamato approached the spies in Sasori's form, from what they could tell, one of them donned a crème colored cloak, the other, a pitch black one.

The crème cloaked spy toyed at their hood, then finally yanked it off. "It's been a...while." Kabuto muttered, he motioned to his colleague.

Following Kabuto's reveal, the black cloaked spy pulled their hood off as well.

_'Sasuke Uchiha is ...'_ Yamato almost slipped up. He quickly pieced himself back together before any of them noticed._ '...ALIVE?!' _ He opened his mouth to speak but got cut off.

"Sasori," Sasuke said. "Tell me, how is my br—" For some reason, he stopped himself and allowed for Sasori and Kabuto to take over.

Yamato suspiciously eyed the raven, talking sparingly to Kabuto. "How do you feel, Kabuto?"

"I had some disorientation from when your jutsu dissolved and I began remembering my true identity—it'll pass."

"I have many questions."

Sasuke stepped in. "I imagine you do, but before you ask, do you mind filling me in on your current objectives with Deidara."

_'He's onto me like I suspected.' _

"I'll give you an easier question-" *click* "-What is Kisame and his _partner's_ current target?"

"..."

"I guess you don't know anything." Sasuke tightly gripped his katana.

*_CLANK_*

Before Sasuke could take a hit on Yamato, a large fūma shuriken clashed with Sasuke's katana. "Captain," Naruto said, retiring the fūma shuriken to his side. "I'll take on Sasuke for as long as I can, you go find Kabuto!"

"Alright," It was true. Kabuto managed to slip away right under their noses and Yamato was on his way to catching him.

Naruto turned back to Sasuke and took this chance to jab at him. "That's funny, you still look the same from when we first met back in the hotel-heh, except maybe you somehow grew uglier than you already were."

"When you become a corpse, I'm not sure how many jokes you'll make then." Sasuke said, stoic face, then added, "You're surprisingly more laid back than I thought you'd be."

"It's because...you're not the person who stole Itachi, you're just a distraction." As his fūma shuriken reappeared in front of him and Sasuke took off, preparing to slice the Uzumaki into pieces.

* * *

A/N: It's a little shorter than usual because I decided to divide it up into three chapters, this is the first part


	23. Chapter 23: Second notice

**Itachi, my brother announcement**

**I'm sad to say that I'm finally ending this story after over a year of writing, I've been thinking about prematurely ending it for months now and finally I made my decisions. In all honesty, while this fic was semi-fun to write, it bored me, I really was rewriting Naruto because I was too afraid to write beyond what was given me. I was too afraid to try new ideas. **

**My original adaption had no rivalry between Naruto and Itachi, no love between Sakura and Itachi, no Itachi retrieval bull because he never betrays the leaf and most importantly, Itachi was to leave the team right during the chūnin exams and become an ANBU. And obviously, none of that happened which made me dread having to write for this story. The stories with Sai and Itachi working together and going undercover to search for Orochimaru wee definitely my favorite parts and I hope to maybe write a fanfic over that one day...**

**Well, enough with that sad news, to compensate for the end of Itachi, my brother I am realeasing a three-chapter finale about how Itachi and Sakura fall in love, Boruto: the movie and gaiden spring bit which will wrap up the story and serve as the ending.**

**_thank you for everything;)_**


End file.
